Coming Home
by christibabe
Summary: This is the sequel to Danger in the Shadows, the second half of the original-Traitors Among Us. We pick up the story with Stephanie making a call that ends with a cryptic message about Bree. There is already a Babe HEA and in this story, Lester gets his own HEA. This is definitely AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help. Any mistakes are mine alone.

**A/N: Traitors Among Us is book one, Danger in the Shadows is book two, and Coming Home is book three. **

Chapter 1: Coming Home

**Bree's POV:**

I woke up with a feeling that today wasn't going to end well. That was one of the aspects of this "gift" I had that I was less than thrilled with. Knowing I couldn't just stay in bed with the covers over my head, I slipped out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, where I answered nature's call and stripped down so I could shampoo my hair and shower. I dried off and finished dressing in a pair of blue jeans and a soft, pullover sweater before slipping on my sneakers and then braided my hair into a single plait down my back. I added a light coating of makeup and then grabbed the phone off my dresser. I looked at the phone for several seconds as I bit my lip, debating on my next move. After all, I was twenty-four years old and needed to handle things on my own at some point.

I felt the darkness closing, and I knew deep down inside I needed one particular person at this moment. I pressed the button on my phone and held it down for a few seconds before placing the phone in my front jeans pocket. I had a lot of work to do, and standing around wasn't going to get it done. I grabbed my purse and keys, making sure my gun was easy to get to and loaded, as well as making sure I had backups in case somehow I was parted from my purse. I took a deep breath and headed for the front door so I could make my way to work.

I stopped in the kitchen long enough to grab a travel mug from the cupboard and fill it with doctored coffee and grab a yogurt and apple that I would have for breakfast when I got to work. I checked to make sure everything was as it needed to be and then headed out. I didn't bother with the elevator, knowing I could reach the main floor much faster by taking the stairs. As I entered the stairwell, I had chills race down my back and I could feel evil closing in. I stilled to listen for a moment, and then quickly and quietly, I made my way down the three flights of stairs to the lobby. As I exited the stairwell, I caught a glimpse of a couple of men dressed in black hoodies, and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

I moved as quickly as possible without alerting anyone to my presence. As I neared the door, I had the sensation of being watched, but I refused to look back. I continued on through the door to the outside world, and as I made my way to my car, I grabbed the talisman I always wore around my neck. Suddenly, everything inside me was screaming for me to get away. I scanned the area in front of me and noticed there were several others wearing the black hoodies. I checked the distance between where I was and my car, and then the sun hit my car at just the right angle so I was able to see there were two men with black hoodies waiting for me there. Without questioning what was directing me, I turned and walked toward the alley between my apartment building and the structure next door. I was nearly to the other end when something was whispering for me to move faster. I quickened my pace, and when I exited the alley, my eyes were drawn to a cab pulling up at the curb. I hurried forward to open the door and climb in, making sure in the split second before I reached the taxi that it was safe.

The driver looked at me through the rearview mirror, and my eyes widened before I got control of my reaction and said, "Drive. They're closing in."

The driver nodded, and we rocketed away from the curb. I tried to relax but found I was unable to. Why was he here, and why now? My eyes met his in the rearview mirror, and then I knew… I clenched my fists and looked out the window as the scenery flew by. My mind went back to that time nearly a decade before my life changed forever.

I met Stephanie Plum when I was four years old and she had crashed her car. She was scared of my older brother Micha, so I climbed in the car. On learning we were sort of looking to start over too, Stephanie got the idea to combine forces and put everyone off. Micha and I shared a mother and she as well as my father had just been murdered, and Micha was looking for a way to keep me hidden from my father's enemies. For the next ten years, Stephanie, Micha, and I lived as a family. They became the parents I no longer had.

When I was a freshman in high school, Stephanie woke me up one day so I could get ready for school. We were eating breakfast, and I got a vision of us getting company. They were there to use us against Micha, to pressure his boss into doing something. I knew we needed to get out of there. As we were trying to load the car, one of the men managed to shoot Stephanie twice, and she barely made it in the car before she passed out. I returned fire on the men and managed to get Stephanie in the passenger seat before driving us to Micha's work in Trenton, New Jersey. Not knowing what else to do, I crashed through the garage barrier and ran into a Porsche 911 Turbo.

Ranger, Micha's boss and the owner of the building as well as the Turbo, was less than pleased we had crashed into his life, but he accepted responsibility for us. Over a few short weeks, we formed strong bonds, and when traitors that worked for Ranger delivered us into the hands of some really bad men, Ranger and his men took them out and saved us. We moved to a safe house that was more a castle than a house. Only thing was the castle was much more than that. It was a portal that opened and took all the bad people that had been trying to destroy us for the past decade, and everything sank into a big sink hole, making it seem as if the castle was never there.

We'd returned to Trenton and continued our lives, knowing that someday, the castle might return, and when it did, we would need to band together once again and battle evil. Stephanie and Ranger had got married and had twins. At first, I'd been a little confused as to how I fit in, but Stephanie and Ranger had both let me know I would always be a part of their life. That wasn't the only growth in my family. My brother met Hector, and after a tempest beginning, the two of them had finally gotten together, and now Hector and his sister Angel were also part of my family.

I was fifteen when Alex and Sky, Stephanie and Ranger's twins, were born. I lived at Rangeman for three years while I finished high school, and I enjoyed helping Stephanie with the babies. I knew from the minute they were born that they were going to be powerful. When Ranger placed Alex in my arms the first time, his gaze locked with mine and I felt such power inside him. When he cried for the first time, the lights flickered in the hospital. I asked Stephanie about it, but neither she or Ranger had noticed any oddities. Sure enough, when I was helping Stephanie out when she got home from the hospital, I noticed a pattern between Alex's displeasure and power outages.

When the twins were baptized, Sky was startled by the cold water, and suddenly, the lights went out all over Trenton. Alex was aptly named. He was indeed the bringer of light, in more ways than one. I grew very fond of Alex and Sky, and it was a wrench to leave them, as well as Stephanie and Micha and all the others. Something had told me it was necessary, and I didn't question my visions.

When I graduated high school, I accepted a full scholarship to one of the best universities in the U.S. Ella's friend Angelina had spent three years working with me on controlling my abilities and creating my own silence. When I went to college, she made the decision to move with me. She had been a big part of my life for the past nine years.

Although I visited as often as possible, somehow in the past five years, I had missed seeing Lester whenever I went back. I heard about his trips with his current woman of the month, but we always seemed to miss each other. When I had to leave without seeing him, I couldn't help but feel sad. I was hoping that when I went home in a couple of weeks, I would get the chance to see him again. It was weird, but he was the one I missed the most.

I was brought back to the present as the taxi came to a stop. I looked into the rearview mirror and met the eyes gazing back at me. Suddenly, I had a vision:_ I saw them coming through the door, and in seconds, they had control. I saw the smile on their faces, and it made my skin crawl. The phone rang, and I frowned as I recognized it. The man that seemed to be in charge lifted the phone to his ear and smiled. As it rang for the third time, he connected the call and his eyes glowed red as he said, "You are too late with your warning. I have her now and I won't be returning her."_

**Stephanie's POV:**

I was parked in front of the school to drop off my nine-year-old twins, when Alex frowned and asked, "Is Bree coming home soon?"

I lifted an eyebrow and said, "I'm not sure, honey. Why?"

Alex shook his head and said, "I think she's in danger."

Suddenly, my chest hurt, and I bit my lip before asking as calmly as I could, "Why do you say that, Alex?"

He lifted his eyes to me and solemnly said, "I had a dream last night where she was in a battle with a very bad man."

My heart dropped to my stomach, and I had the bad feeling that something was horribly off. I tried not to let the twins know how upset I was at what Alex had just told me, so I kept my emotions firmly in check as I wished them both a good day. Once they had gone inside the building, I fished my phone out and called Bree. The phone was answered on the third ring, and I felt myself relax…that is, until I heard a voice saying, "You are too late with your warning. I have her now, and I won't be returning her."

The feeling in the pit of my stomach went into hyper-drive. I looked at my phone to put in another number, when suddenly, there was a pounding on the window. I squeaked in surprise and turned to see Ram and Cal standing beside the driver's side door. I powered the window down and asked, "What's going on?"

Ram's gaze held mine as he said, "We got an SOS several minutes ago. Ranger asked us to come get you and drop off Binkie and Hal to guard the twins."

"Oh no! Alex said he had a dream about Bree being in a fight with a really bad guy. Is she all right?"

Ram moved around uncomfortably, and I knew he didn't want to answer my question.

I glared and said, "What do you know?"

Ram sighed. "Not much. She sent out the SOS by pressing the number two on her phone. When Vince and Lester arrived, they found Angelina in bad shape, and Bree was nowhere to be found."

My hands clenched on the wheel, and I bit my lip as the tears burned the backs of my eyes. "I tried calling Bree, and a man answered. He said he had her and he wasn't giving her back."

Ram and Cal exchanged a look, and Cal suggested, "Let me drive you back to Rangeman, and we can see if Vince and Lester have any more news."

I frowned. "How did Lester and Vince get there so fast? How long have you guys known about this?"

Ram placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's not what you are thinking, Steph. Apparently, Lester had just gone to bed when he had a feeling, and he grabbed Vince and told him they were going on a drive. From what Vince said, Lester broke every traffic law on the books to get them to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When they found Angelina, she said bad men were there and they were after Bree. Les asked where she was, but Angelina slipped into a coma from her injuries before she could answer."

My hands were shaking as I scooted over into the passenger seat so Cal could drive.

He climbed in and laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "We'll find her, Steph. Everyone is working on it."

I nodded and whispered, "Does Micha know?"

Cal nodded. "Yes. Hector was going to let him know when we left Rangeman."

I nodded and looked ahead without really seeing anything. My baby was out there, and I didn't know yet if she was okay. I closed my eyes and prayed for her safety.

**Lester's POV:**

I had just gotten off my shift and was preparing to get some sleep when the feeling I had been having all day intensified. I entered my apartment and headed for the bathroom, hoping a hot shower would relax me. I let the hot water cascade over my naked body as I stood there with my head lifted toward the ceiling. Twenty frustrating minutes later, I was as tied up in knots as I had been when I entered my apartment. I plopped down on my bed and closed my eyes. Suddenly, I bolted upright, and I could feel my heart beating double time in my chest, only one thought in my head: "Where are you, _Chula_?"

I had a sudden vision and shot to my feet. I dressed in my Rangeman uniform, complete with weapons. I knew I was too tired to drive the whole way on my own, so I went down the hall and pounded on Vince's door. If I was right, he should be getting up so he would be ready for his shift in three hours. Every so often, those of us on the main team had to take a turn at the late-night shift.

Sure enough, when Vince opened his door, I could see he had maybe been up long enough to get dressed and eat something. He looked me over with narrowed eyes and asked, "Something wrong, Les?"

"I need to take a drive, man, and I need a driver for the first leg."

"I'm scheduled in three hours."

I nodded. "I know. I need you to come with me, though."

I watched as Vince sized me up. His eyes narrowed, and he pulled his phone from his utility belt. A few seconds later, he was talking to someone, saying, "Yeah, I need a favor, man. Les came by and needs me to take a ride with him. He needs a driver, as it'll be a long ride."

I watched as Vince listened to whoever was on the other end of the phone. After a couple of seconds, he replied, "I appreciate it, man. I'll take your next late shift after I get back."

With that, Vince replaced his phone and stepped back. "Come in while I get ready. I got Woody to cover for me."

I followed him into the apartment and took a seat at the kitchen bar as he headed into the bedroom to finish dressing. When he joined me ten minutes later, he nodded, and without a word, I stood and followed him out of his apartment. We took the stairs down to the garage and made our way over to one of the SUVs. Vince climbed into the driver's seat, and I climbed in on the passenger side. He looked at me and asked, "Where to, man?"

I looked him in the eyes and replied, "Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. You'll drive till I get enough sleep, and then I'll take over."

Vince nodded, turned on the SUV, and we pulled out of the garage.

I closed my eyes and slid down to get as comfortable as possible. I knew I could trust Vince to get us as far as was legally possible while I slept, so I relaxed and let sleep claim me. I wasn't sure how long I had been sleeping when I felt an urgency pulling at me. I shifted and opened my eyes. I was alone in the SUV, so I sat up and looked around. I was getting ready to open my door, when I saw Vince heading my way. He climbed in, and I asked, "Where are we?"

"Just outside Gary, Indiana."

I nodded. "I'm going to use the bathroom. They have anything that passes for coffee in there?"

Vince held up two cups. "I got us both a cup, along with a couple of power bars."

I nodded. "Thanks man. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Vince nodded.

I headed into the gas station and made use of the facilities. After washing my hands, I stood and looked in the mirror. For several seconds, I felt like I was floating, and then I saw him and I knew who he was after. I saw the clock on the wall and looked at my watch. _Shit_! I strode from the bathroom and out to the pump where the SUV was parked. I opened the driver's side door and motioned for Vince to climb over. Once he had moved enough, I climbed up and buckled myself in. My gaze was straight ahead as I told Vince, "Hang onto your butt, man."

I put the vehicle in gear, and we shot off toward the reservation. We had a limited amount of time to reach her, and I'd be damned if someone was going to hurt her on my watch.

**Angelina's POV:**

I had strange visions in the night. I woke early, hoping to reach Bree and warn her of the danger to come. I still wasn't sure what had sent me to Ella all those years ago, but we had become fast friends and had been friends for many years before the evil arrived. I had always had a sense that Ella's nephews had a power that not many possessed. I had seen the dark cloud nearing them, and then when they had fought the three evils, there was peace and harmony. I knew that within time, there would be another evil coming to try them. That was why I wanted to help Bree. I knew I could help her as no other person could, save her father…and he was dead.

From the jewelry box; I removed the necklace my father had given me just days before he was abducted. Both my brother and I had received necklaces. Raine had given his to his daughter to protect her. No one knew my real connection to Bree, and it was necessary for her safety that no one ever found out. I placed the necklace around my neck, said the prayer chant as my father had taught me, and let the visions take me where they would. My hands shook as I removed the necklace and replaced it in the place of honor. I lifted the box and moved through the house till I reached the room where Bree slept when she came to the reservation. I sat on the bed and started the chant that would connect the necklaces so that all power would be transferred to her. When I finished, my energy was depleted, and I found myself lying down so I could recharge my energy.

I was awoken some time later when evil entered my home. My first thought was to run, but then I knew they would keep looking. I had one chance to help her, and in order to do that I had to remain here. I glanced at the nightstand and frowned as I noticed the cell phone there. I could swear it wasn't there when I entered the room. I prayed it wasn't a sign that Bree was early.

Suddenly, the door opened and evil stepped into the room. He lifted the revolver in his hand and aimed it at my head as he smiled that snaky, evil smile of his. His voice had a hissing sound to it as he said, "I have come for you, my love. It is time for us to join."

I closed my mind to him and began chanting. I heard the gun cock and then the sound of the bullet leaving the barrel a mere second before it slammed into my body. As I lay there dying, I heard the phone ring.

He answered it, and the words he spoke sent a chill racing down my spine. "You are too late with your warning. I have her now, and I won't be returning her."


	2. Gathering Clues

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 2: Gathering Clues

**Stephanie's POV:**

In no time, Cal was pulling into the garage at Rangeman, and I had the door opened before he came to a complete stop. He reached out and kept me in my seat till he had the SUV in park, and then he let go. I hit the ground running, and instead of waiting for the elevator, I ran up the five flights of stairs and barreled out onto the comm room floor. I was going on instinct, trusting myself to get me to the one place I needed to be. I made it to Ranger's office in record time. I opened the door and went right in, not stopping to see if he might be busy. I needed him, and that was my only thought.

The minute I entered his office, Ranger was in motion, and before I knew it, I was in his arms. I clung to him as I lay my head against his chest and the tears I had been battling broke free. He spoke softly to me, trying to comfort me. I wasn't sure how long I had been standing there wrapped in his arms, when there was a knock on the door. I felt the rumble of Ranger's chest as he said, "Enter."

The door opened to reveal Tank standing there. He hesitated, just enough to tell me he had some information about Bree. I knew from the way Tank continued into the room that Ranger had given him the go-ahead. Tank's voice was low as he spoke. "I got a call from Lester. Angelina is in bad shape. She slipped into a coma."

Ranger nodded. "Micha and Hector are on their way there as we speak."

We were interrupted by a pounding on the door. Ranger lifted an eyebrow and gave a barely perceptible nod to Tank.

Tank opened the door and stepped back as Julie pushed her way into her father's office.

I frowned before asking, "Julie, aren't you supposed to be in class?"

Julie waved her hand. "This is more important. I received a message twenty minutes ago—a picture message."

Without another word, Julie handed her phone to her father. Ranger took the phone and held it so we could both see the picture that was on Julie's phone. I couldn't help the gasp that escaped.

**Julie's POV:**

I had gotten out of bed just like every other day, with no clue that in a few short hours, my life was going to change drastically. I slipped into my workout gear and took a look around my bedroom one last time to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. The room was average in size, large enough to fit a queen-sized bed, dresser, and armoire, as well as nightstands on either side of the bed. The room was done in shades of green, which happened to be my favorite color, and was the main reason I had voted on this apartment over the other one my dad had let us look at. The curtains added a forest feel to the room, and I had the sensation of coming home every time I entered the room. I closed the door, not bothering to lock it, knowing that Bella and Mary Alice would respect my privacy.

I headed down the short hallway and passed the den and kitchen on my way toward the front door. The apartment was compact, yet there was plenty of room for the three of us. The kitchen was small, mostly just an efficiency kitchen, but it was perfect for us, as none of us did much cooking. The kitchen and den were separated by a small bar, with four stools on the side of the bar facing toward the kitchen. That's where we usually sat to eat when we were here. The den had a full sofa, as well as a love seat and two chairs combo, with three small side tables and a larger coffee table placed around the area, and there was a forty-two-inch TV screen.

On the other side of the den, there was another short hallway that led to the other two bedrooms. Both were the same size as my own. Mary Alice had claimed the one done in purple, and Bella had opted for the one done in blue. There was a full bathroom connecting their two rooms, and I had a full bathroom all to myself. We had planned for weeks before they graduated from high school that we would move in together. The fact that we would choose an apartment in the Rangeman complex was in our favor. No one could argue that it was unsafe.

I grabbed my gym bag off the hook by the door, as well as my key fob, and headed to the gym. I had gotten into the routine of working out right from the beginning of coming to live with Dad. At first, it was a way to connect with him, but over the years, I'd continued doing it for me. I liked being in the best physical shape I could be. It didn't hurt that I got the opportunity to view some of the finest male specimens known to mankind. It took only a few minutes to reach the gym in the main building. I got into my warm-up routine, and in minutes, I was in full workout mode.

The gym was loaded with every imaginable way a person could work out. Treadmills, StairMasters, climbers, stationary bikes, rowing machines, weights…you name it, and it was here. There were only a few guys when I entered the gym, but by the time I was fully into my routine, there were several more. My heart skipped a beat and I nearly fell off the StairMaster when I noticed that he was in the gym. I bit my lip so I wouldn't let loose the moan I felt at just the sight of him.

Jason Alexander, or Jace as everyone at Rangeman knew him, was a six-foot-four Adonis. He had a lean, yet muscular, build with not an ounce of fat anywhere. His blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and on the few occasions I had seen it loose, it fell three to four inches below his shoulder blades and he wore it parted in the middle in front. Jace had the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. Not the hazel green that you usually see, but a deep, emerald green. His features were strong and masculine. He was more than just handsome… He was beautiful. Of course, I didn't know any guy that would like to be called beautiful, so I kept my opinion to myself.

I felt a hand land on my shoulder and jumped. I turned to see Tank standing there, grinning ear-to-ear. His voice was deep and there was a hint of amusement as he said, "You need to be more aware of your surroundings Julie."

I wrinkled my nose before rolling my eyes and replying, "I can't help it if you took lessons on sneaking up on people."

Tank threw back his head and gave a deep belly laugh. When he stopped laughing, he shook his head at me and said, "I called your name three times with no response. What has your attention so focused, honey?"

I smiled and leaned toward him to whisper, "Like I would tell you."

He placed a hand over his heart like I had mortally wounded him, a shocked look on his face as he replied, "That was harsh."

I climbed off the machine and grabbed my towel to throw around my neck so I could wipe away the sweat from my face, arms, and neck. I was breathing faster and harder than usual due to my workout. I shook my head and said, "I need to get going if I'm going to make it to class on time."

Tank nodded. "All right. Drive safely and keep your eyes open." He paused. "Don't be surprised if you see a Rangeman vehicle following you or one of the guys shadowing you."

I frowned and studied his face to see if I could pick up any signs. He had his blank look on, but there was a hint of something just at the edge. I nodded as I replied, "Don't worry, big guy. I won't try to lose them."

Tank smiled and leaned down to kiss my cheek before whispering, "Thanks, Julie. That will ease my mind, so I'm going to hold you to that."

I headed out of the gym and went back to my apartment. Taking a quick shower, I dressed in the standard college uniform of blue jeans and sneakers. I varied the uniform by wearing a pink rose-colored T-shirt. Brushing my hair back, I secured it in a ponytail before adding a minimum of makeup. I checked to make sure I had everything: back-up gun in ankle holster, check; panic button, check; main gun in purse, check; phone, check; trackers in purse, check; tracker in sneaker, check; tracker in watch, check. I tilted my head side to side and realized I had everything I needed, so I headed to the door to grab my backpack, which was complete with another back-up gun as well as a tracker of its own.

I locked the door on my way out and made my way to the garage, where my car was parked. When I got my license, I'd received a new, black Hyundai Elantra. Well, it hadn't actually been my car at that point. Dad had bought it, and I'd been allowed to drive it. He'd said if I proved I was responsible, the car would be mine when I graduated from high school. That was two years ago, and I'd been thrilled when Dad and Steph told me the car was mine. I climbed into my little car and headed toward Rutgers. The drive would take me between twenty to thirty minutes, depending on traffic.

As soon as I pulled out of the garage, I picked up the black SUV that pulled into traffic behind me. I smiled as I toyed with the thought of giving them a run for their money, but then I remembered what I'd told Tank and decided to behave. Once I reached the college, I pulled into a parking slot and was getting ready to get out of the car, when my phone rang. I connected the call and froze. As quickly as I could, I re-buckled my seat belt and was tearing off like a bat out of hell, heading back to Trenton. I didn't even bother to see if my guards were following.

I made the trip back to Rangeman in record time. When I roared into the garage, I caught Hal unaware, and he stood there staring at me for a second too long and nearly didn't get out of the way in time. When I climbed out of the car, he went to say something, but I made a run for the stairs. I didn't have time to wait for the elevator. I hurried as fast as I could, and when I exited on the fifth floor, I ran to Dad's office and pounded on the door. There was an urgency to my actions I couldn't explain. Tank opened the door, and I made my way inside.

Stephanie frowned as she asked, "Julie, aren't you supposed to be in class?"

I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture as I replied, "This is more important. I received a message twenty minutes ago—a picture message."

I handed the phone to Dad, and when Stephanie looked at the message with him, she gasped.

**Unknown POV:**

I watched as she pulled into the parking space and smiled as I thought about how I would enjoy the task that had been set for me. I'd been given the task of controlling the wind. I had managed to get in a strategic location so I could grab her, and I had a couple of rooks with me to help. They were in the shadows, waiting for me to give the word, and then they would be there instantly. I was getting ready to move as soon as she stepped out of the car, but she wasn't getting out. I frowned and willed her to do as I wanted. Instead, the car started and she tore out of the parking lot. It was then that I saw the black vehicle shadowing her. I frowned, sure I was the only one sent for this one. My eyes narrowed and I decided I was going to require someone to answer for this. I raised my head and decided just who was going to pay and what the penalty would be.

**Jace's POV:**

I walked into the gym with Milo, who had been my partner off and on for three years now. Milo was a black man, just over six foot five, with muscles on muscles. He was marginally smaller than Tank…but not by much, and he was a player. He was always trying to get me to party with him, but that wasn't my scene—at least, not anymore. Not since I had taken one look at Ranger's daughter Julie, who was working out just across the gym from me. She had been just seventeen the first time I met her, and I had just been hired to work for Rangeman.

My first assignment had been as her shadow to her senior prom.

_It was awkward feeling like I did and having to watch her with her date. The kid was the captain of the football team and thought his shit didn't stink. I watched from the sidelines as the jerk proceeded to flirt with anything female, and when Julie called him on it, he struck her. Before I could get my hands on the creep, Julie introduced his family jewels to the back of his throat and grabbed hold of the top of his head by his hair, telling him that if he ever touched her again, she'd make him disappear. Milo and I stepped out of the shadows and flanked her on either side. Bozo paled, swallowed hard, turned tail, and ran._

_I glanced down at Julie and saw that she was fighting tears. Turning to Milo, I motioned for him to watch the perimeter. Once Julie and I were alone, I leaned down and asked, "What's the matter?"_

_Julie looked up at me, shook her head, and said, "I want to go home."_

_The music filtered out from the gymnasium, and the song was pure romance. I held out my hand to her, and she looked at me with confusion. I winked and said, "I'll take you home, love, but first, we'll dance the last song of the night."_

_Julie blushed, but she took my hand and followed my lead as we danced. _

_When the song ended, I leaned down and kissed her cheek before whispering, "Better?"_

_She nodded. _

_I kept hold of her hand as we headed for the SUV, collecting Milo on the way. _

Over the next three years, I'd kept an eye on her to make sure she wasn't hurt by some other creep. It was difficult keeping my distance, but at twenty-five, I was eight years older than she was, and I was determined to give her the chance to live and make her own decisions before I made my intentions known. She was now twenty to my twenty-eight, and it was getting harder by the day not to make my move.

When Julie left the gym, Tank stopped beside where I was lifting weights and said, "I want you and Milo on Julie. Anything happens to her, and you'll answer to me."

I nodded and collected Milo on my way out. We lost no time in showering and getting fully dressed for the day. We had just reached the garage and climbed into the SUV when she came down and climbed into her little car. She barreled out of the garage, and we were right behind her. When she pulled into the parking space at Rutgers, I found another spot not far away. Before we could get out, she was roaring out of the lot, and I was hot on her heels. When she entered the Rangeman garage, I was right behind her.

Milo swore when she nearly took out Hal. When she headed for the stairs, we weren't far behind her.

**Lester's POV:**

Vince and I had done everything we could at the reservation. I had gone through Angelina's home, picking up a few things that I placed in a bag. We stopped by the hospital to check on her, but there had been no change in her condition. Although she was still in a coma, I felt a pull drawing me in. I sat down in the chair next to the bed and leaned forward, resting my clasped hands on the bed. I bowed my head and closed my eyes.

I grew warm as I sat there. Suddenly, there was a kaleidoscope of colors all running together. I tried to make sense of everything that was playing through my head. First were the scenes from the past where we had fought the evil ones, and then the castle being sucked into the ground, and then scenes that made no sense because there was no frame of time to tell me whether they were from the past or what would come in the future. Finally, there was a scene that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. My eyes opened, and I lifted my head to look at Vince.

Vince nodded. His eyes were narrowed and focused on some distant vision only he was privy to. After a couple minutes, he turned and our eyes locked. We each saw what the other had seen. _Shit_!

Just as I was ready to step away from the bed, I felt a hand clasp mine and looked down to see Angelina holding my hand firmly in hers. I sat back down and drew her hand up to rest along with mine at my forehead. Lights exploded, and what came next was either a vision or I had finally gone off the deep end. Since I had reason to believe I was still sane, the only other explanation had to be that it was a vision.

I saw myself sitting in a tepee along with several other men. Each was dressed in Chieftain garb. One of them eyed me closely. I lifted an eyebrow, and he motioned me forward. His voice was familiar as he said, "Come. See what has to be."

Clouds surrounded me, and it was as if I was in a fog. When the fog lifted, what I saw brought a smile to my face. The woman in front of me was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I felt as if my heart was being squeezed, and I wanted more than anything to wrap my arms around the vision and hold her to me forever. I was amazed that I could feel so much for someone I had never met before. Before I could make good on taking hold of her, the vision cleared and I was once again sitting beside the bed of Angelina. As I opened my eyes, I swore she sighed and tightened her grip on my hand. I took a quick look but saw no change in her. I released her hand and stood to go.

I looked over at Vince. "Let's go. We need to hurry and find her."

Vince nodded, and we headed out into the heat of the day. When we exited the hospital, Micha and Hector were leaning against a black SUV much like our own.

Micha stood and lifted his head. "Did you find anything to help us locate Bree?"

I shook my head. "No, but I have a feeling she is somewhere familiar."

**Bree's POV:**

I opened my eyes and looked around. I frowned as nothing looked familiar. I wondered how long I had been here. What's more, I wondered how long I would remain here. I slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, stuffing my phone into my pocket before padding through the house and out the front door. I turned and gasped at the sight that met my eyes. I fished my phone out of my pocket and pressed the camera button. I sent the picture to the three people I knew I would need to alert. They would take care of letting the rest know.

My head turned toward the west, and I felt a connection. They would need to get here soon. A sound had me turning again, and I glared at the person standing before me. The bastard had the nerve to smile as he headed in my direction.


	3. It's Back

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 3: It's Back

**Bree's POV:**

My eyes narrowed as I watched his approach. He hadn't changed at all in the past ten years since I'd last seen him. When he stood right in front of me, I lifted my eyebrow and asked, "Why did you bring me here? And what were you doing in that cab back in Rapid City?"

He smiled in a way that had me itching to smack his smug face.

I clenched my hands as I fought the temptation.

He winked at me before holding his hand out toward me. "I was sent by the council to be your protector. We felt a shift and knew evil would soon be coming. All our efforts are concentrated on your safety."

I frowned. Turning to scan the area around us, I had a feeling that I had been here before. "Why here?"

"When the Golden Ones defeated the others and the castle disappeared into the Earth, it was said that when evil returned, you would know."

I turned to face him. "They're back?"

He paused. "the Demon, the Fallen One, and the Beast are all dead and cannot return. But a new evil has come into their own and are gathering followers to ready themselves for the attack."

"What do you know about them?"

He held his palms up and tilted his head, "At this point, I have no information. Not even a name."

I rolled my eyes before asking, "So how are we supposed to defeat them if we don't even know who they are?"

He smiled. "You have all the resources you need. Trust your instincts."

His hand was still extended toward me, and something was telling me I needed to trust him—something I hadn't been able to do when I was younger. At least, not until he had revealed the reasoning behind his actions. Even then, it hadn't been a full trust, only a minimal one. My gaze met his as I placed my hand in his, and I felt the world shift around me.

Suddenly, inside my head, I was seeing many scenes all at once. The first scene was of the battle ten years ago and all that had happened. The scene played over and over, as did the others within my view. I moved to the next scene, and it played various scenes of my life over the past ten years. There were a few people in the scenes that had the hair standing up on the back of my neck. I found myself wondering if I was seeing the emergence of the evil that was headed our way. There were other scenes playing, too—Julie's senior prom, Mary Alice and Bella's graduation, Stephanie's last three stalkers, and finally, I saw Angelina before she was attacked, as well as the attack itself. When my head cleared once again, I knew where we needed to look.

I turned to look at the man standing in front of me and nodded my head. "I'll get started on it right away. I'd be happier if I had Stephanie with me. She's a master at this sort of stuff."

He chuckled. "She will be here soon. As a matter of fact, we will be having a great deal of company before the day is out."

I acknowledge his statement and then headed into the house. When I reached the front door, I felt a pull from the ocean and turned to look out to sea. What I saw next scared the shit out of me. I hurried inside and slammed the door, wrapping my arms around my waist. I closed my eyes briefly and thought, _Where are you, Lester? I need you._

**Lester's POV:**

We spent six hours searching the city. Vince and I started on the east side, and Hector and Micha took the west side. We drove up and down the streets in a zigzag, stopping at random points and searching on foot. Vince and I came upon an abandoned taxi, and the electricity in the air pulled me to check it out. When I opened the back door of the cab, I was hit with Bree's scent mixed with a Christmas smell. I slammed the door and swore under my breath as I stormed back to the SUV.

Vince gave me a questioning look.

I shook my head as I pulled my phone out. While I waited, I checked my watch. Damn! All that time wasted. Somehow, I knew she was no longer in the city, and I was frustrated because we had lost time spinning our wheels.

I heard Micha asking, "You find something?"

Yeah. The taxi she was in. I found that little talisman she likes to wear. Head back to the reservation, and we'll search there. Something is telling me that's where we need to be."

Micha acknowledged my directive and suggested meeting at Angelina's house so we could search there first. I agreed and we got under way. Now the real fun was going to start. It was a daunting task, and the pull to the reservation I felt was telling me we needed to hurry. We booked it to meet the other two so we could do a thorough search of Angelina's house and as much of the reservation as we could possibly cover in a short time. Vince and I went in one direction, while Micha and Hector went in the other. Instead of using the vehicles, we went on horseback to make it easier to check the rougher areas.

Six hours later, the four of us met up again to see what our next move would be. When we got out of our vehicles and gathered together, I asked, "You two find anything?"

Micha looked worried. His gaze kept going toward the east.

They shook their heads, and I cursed. "Neither did we."

Micha's gaze caught mine and he said, "I have a bad feeling. Something is telling me we need to get back to Jersey as soon as possible."

I nodded. "I'm getting the same feeling, man."

I paused for several seconds and closed my eyes. In my mind, I heard, _Where are you, Lester? I need you._

Suddenly, everything was crystal clear, and I turned to the others long enough to say, "Saddle up. We're heading back to Trenton."

We raced to our vehicles and tore out of there like bats out of hell.

**Stephanie's POV:**

When I saw the picture displayed on Julie's phone, I knew we needed to get there as soon as we possibly could. I looked up at Ranger and said, "I'll start calling the others. We may not have much time."

Ranger gave a slight nod. "All right, Babe. I'll get the guys moving. Meet you in the garage in an hour."

I waved my hand in the air and paused long enough to touch Julie's arm to let her know I wanted her to come with me. We headed toward the penthouse, and as I started throwing things on the bed, Julie started packing them into the suitcases. As I worked, I pulled my phone out and started making some calls. By the time I had everything I thought Ranger and I would need, I had managed to call everyone I needed to contact. I walked out to the bedroom one final time and noticed Julie had everything packed.

She smiled at my look of incredulity and said, "Now that we have you and Dad set, I need to go do some packing of my own. I called Mary Alice and Bella. They should be getting packed as well. We'll be ready to go when you guys are."

I met her gaze and then hugged her, saying, "Thanks, Julie. I have to go get the twins from school. Don't let them leave without me."

Julie giggled. "Don't worry, I won't."

We headed toward the door leading to the elevator, and just as I opened the apartment door, the elevator door opened and the twins were rushing off to where Julie and I were standing. I frowned. "How did you get here? I was just coming to get you."

Sky grinned. "Binkie and Hal brought us home."

I knelt down and wrapped my arms around my babies—well, they weren't exactly babies anymore. I hugged them tight, reluctant to let them go. I needed the reassurance of them being close to me.

After several seconds, Alex whispered into my ear, "We need to get ready, Mom."

I released them and nodded. "Yes, you do. We need to hurry because your dad wants to leave soon."

They nodded and raced off to their rooms.

Julie placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "We'll find her."

I stood before replying, "We will. After all, with Ranger and all of you to help, how could we not?"

With that, Julie headed toward the stairs and I headed back into the apartment to help the twins pack.

Five minutes before we were due in the garage, Junior, Binkie, and Hal knocked on the apartment door and helped us to get all of our bags downstairs. We exited the elevator to find the rest of the group already there. The guys loaded our bags into the Porsche Cayenne, and the twins got in the back as I got in the front passenger seat. Ranger joined us and took his place behind the wheel. Once he had fastened his seat belt, he looked over at me and placed his hand on my thigh. I placed my hand over his and turned to meet his gaze.

We waited for several minutes while the rest of the group got into their assigned vehicles: Jace, Milo, Ram, and Julie were behind us; Hal, Binkie, Woody, and Mary Alice were in the next vehicle; and finally, Tank, Bobby, Cal, and Bella were in the final SUV. When everyone was set, the drivers flashed their lights and Ranger put his arm out the window and held it up. With that, we were underway.

I surprised myself by managing to stay awake for the drive to Point Pleasant. When we reached the spot where we had fought the final battle ten years ago, I was stunned to see the castle standing there, just as it had been before it disappeared into the sink hole that had opened to swallow it up. I looked over and saw the muscles clenching in Ranger's jaw. Without taking his eyes off the view in front of us, he reached out and took hold of my hand. Ranger put the Cayenne in park, and we got out, joining the others.

Ranger motioned to Ram, Cal, Woody, Tank, Bobby, Cal, and Hal to join him in going through the house to make sure it was safe. Before they could take more than a few steps, the front door opened and Bree stepped out to meet us. Ranger wrapped his arms around Bree, and I could see him telling or asking her something, although I couldn't hear what he was saying. When he released her, she nodded and headed in our direction while the guys entered the castle. Bree stopped beside me, and I immediately put my arms around her, holding her to me.

She lifted her face and whispered, "Evil has returned. It's up to us to figure out who it is."

I squeezed her tight before letting go and then stepped back. I sighed before whispering back, "Why can't it ever be easy?"

Bree smiled slightly and shrugged. "I don't know." She turned to look at the group. "Where are Micha and Lester?"

"They're in South Dakota looking for you."

Bree's expression turned sad. "Have you heard how Angelina is doing?"

My eyes widened. "No..."

Bree's eyes met mine. "She bought me time to get away. She was close to death the last I knew. I haven't been able to sense anything for some time now."

I bit my lip. Ella would be devastated if anything happened to her friend.

Just then, the guys exited the castle and headed over to where we were standing. Ranger placed his arm around my waist and said, "Everything looks secure."

Bree grinned. "Although it looks enough like the other one on the outside to make it apparent we are being sent a message, on the inside, it's totally different."

"I've been worried about you," I told her.

"I would have called, but I lost my phone. It was with me at one point, and then when I woke up here, it was gone. And the really freaky part, it showed up again when I came out here, so I sent a picture text."

The guys started grabbing the luggage, and we all headed inside. Just before we entered the castle, there was an inhuman howl of rage. I stopped and turned toward the ocean. Whatever was out there was closing in. I shivered and reached out to place a hand on each of the twins. My eyes narrowed and I felt a fierceness rising up as I thought, _Leave my family alone if you know what's good for you._

**Unknown POV:**

I watched them as they entered the house. My eyes narrowed with the rage I felt at being denied my kill. It would have been so easy to destroy her on her own. But now, they were here, and things would be much harder. I moved my head from side to side. I would need to bide my time and devise a plan. My only hope would be to separate them somehow. I just needed to figure out who I could entice to do my bidding.

I let out a howl and noticed one of the women turning to look back to where I waited. Whatever her thoughts were, they were strong. I felt the push and had to fight to stay upright. Her, I would need to keep away from. She alone could ruin all my plans. I would need to figure out why.

I heard a slithering sound and turned to find that my pet Nosh had joined me. I smiled cruelly, thinking how I would enjoy the torture Nosh would deal out. I paused only long enough for Nosh to get settled around my neck, and then I headed into the dark, where I would wait until the time was right.

**Alex's POV:**

As soon as Dad parked the Cayenne, I felt the darkness. Evil slinked closer. I reached out and took Sky's hand. I saw the covers float back, and a hideous sight was exposed. It was like watching Saturday morning cartoons, where the Justice League fought for truth, justice, and whatever. When it was finally okay for us to head into the castle, I squeezed Sky's hand because I knew she felt the danger buffeting us. I hoped to lend her some of my strength. Mom turned back before entering, and I felt the foulness slip back, as if Mom were able to push it away. I tilted my head to the side and puzzled over this for a few seconds before we followed her inside.

**Ranger's POV:**

I was the last one to enter. My men and I had thoroughly searched the castle and declared it safe. Now we needed to find out why it had reappeared and what we needed to do about it. First things first, we allotted the rooms. I received a call from Lester while we were searching the house and knew they were on their way here. I had the sketch that Ram had made, telling us where all the bedrooms and everything lay. The bedroom wings were made up into four bedrooms to a wing. I left Bree where she had been staying, then in her wing, I put Micha and Hector in one of the rooms, Vince in another, and Lester in the room closest to her.

We had five different bedroom wings. The only wing that was different included what could be considered the master bedroom. There were three bedrooms in that wing, and that's where Stephanie and I would go with the twins. Julie would be in the wing with Milo, Ram, and Jace; Mary Alice would be in the wing with Hal, Binkie, and Woody; and Bella would be in the wing with Tank, Bobby, and Cal. As I looked at the plans, I noticed there was one room not accounted for.

I looked up, and Bree was standing beside me. She leaned in and whispered, "That's where he's staying."

My eyes narrowed as I nodded. We'd leave him alone for now. I rolled up the plans, and we all moved out to get situated. It had been a long day already, and I knew everyone was getting tired. I figured we would get settled and then have dinner before retiring to our rooms. I went with Stephanie and the children to our rooms, and while they were unpacking, I headed toward the kitchen, which turned out to be fully stocked.

I was debating my next move when I was joined by a heavyset woman in her forties. She smiled up at me and said, "I will have your meal ready by the time everyone has made their way back down."

Pausing, I finally asked, "Who are you?"

She chuckled. "I am the caretaker Donnella. I am one of the guardians. I have the honor of serving the Golden Ones."

I stared at her for several moments, then nodded and left the room. When I reached the door of the great room, I saw Stephanie and the twins as well as several of the others. I knew we had a lot to do, and I wasn't sure just how much time we had before it would be time for battle. We had to know what we were up against before then.

I stepped into the room, and although my voice was low, I knew they could all hear me. "We need to get a handle on just what's going on. Babe, can you see what you can find in the search engines? Tank, I want two men on guard at all times. Lester will need to be available to Bree, so leave him out of the mix. Ram, I need you to look through this place again. See if there are any surprises. Take Cal and set up an early warning system and a few surprises if anyone tries to come in unannounced. We'll have a meal in a few minutes. Then we get to work."

I had given the orders and knew my men would do their assignments without question. My eyes narrowed as I planned what to do with the ogre that was threatening my family. He had attacked Angelina and tried to harm Bree. As far as I was concerned, that alone would seal his fate. I had a feeling, though, that this was just the beginning.


	4. The Gang's All Here

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 4: The Gang's All Here

**Lester's POV:**

I called Ranger once we were underway and learned that not only had they found Bree, but the castle was back in Point Pleasant. There was no longer any reason to fly under the radar. I headed us to the airport. A commercial flight, like Hector and Micha had taken to get here, would be too slow. Although Ranger hadn't asked, I knew he was wondering why I hadn't just taken the Rangeman chopper to fly out instead of driving and wasting all that time. I couldn't explain it, but something told me if I had done that, things would have ended up differently for Bree. Since I no longer had to worry about her safety, I told Ranger to send the chopper.

We hit the outskirts of Rapid City and meandered through the city. We were close to where I knew Bree's apartment was when I felt a sense of increasing danger. My eyes narrowed as I scanned the area. As we passed the alley between Bree's apartment and the building next door, there was a small dog with its teeth bared, growling at a distorted area in front of it. The dog looked like a Corgi Shih tzu hybrid. The dog was small, white with black ears and black around each eye, as well as a large black patch on its back as well as black on its tail. I slowed the vehicle to nearly a stop and opened the driver's side door before giving an ear-piercing whistle. I braked as the little dog raced over to our vehicle and launched himself up into the cab of the SUV. I slammed the door and floored the gas pedal. I tried to hand the dog off to Vince, but the little shit growled and tried to bite his hand.

In no time, we were pulling up to the Rangeman helicopter, which was black, shiny, and wicked-looking. It fit five comfortably—the pilot, front passenger, and a row of three seats in back, as well. When I stepped out of the vehicle holding the dog, I caught a glimpse of Micha and Hector trying to hide grins. I glared, ignoring them, and headed for the chopper. I climbed in beside the pilot, leaving the three stooges to squeeze into the back. As soon as we were buckled in, the machine was started and we were on our way. The return trip to Trenton would be a hell of a lot quicker than the trip out.

Once we were under way, I turned to Sam, the pilot, and asked, "Can you land at Point Pleasant, near the castle?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "Close enough. You might have a short walk."

I nodded. Leaning back in the seat, I closed my eyes, figuring I might get a nap in. I had been asleep a couple hours when I felt the shift in the air, and I knew we were closing on our destination. I sat up and opened my eyes to scan the area around us. There was danger closing in on us. I felt the little body in my arm quivering, with a low growl coming from it. My eyes narrowed and I turned to Sam. He looked at me, and I knew we wouldn't be able to land where we wanted. I looked down at the area below and found a spot that looked to be open enough for us to land, and it was only about five miles from the original area where we'd planned to set down. I motioned to the spot and Sam nodded.

I heard the oaths from the guys in the back as they realized what was going on. As Sam lowered us toward the ground, I felt the power buffeting the helicopter. By then, the little ball of fur in my arms was growling fiercely. I frowned, wondering how they had been able to find us. I was used to being able to run without being seen, and the fact that whatever it was that was out there knew where we were told me this time around, it might be a more difficult battle.

We finally landed, and we were out of the helicopter in seconds. We hurried out of the danger zone near the blades, and when we reached the perimeter, I motioned for Sam to take the chopper back up. We didn't wait to see if he got off all right, but instead headed out. I knew this area well, after all. I'd loved spending my weekends here. Although I hadn't been back in ten years, it wasn't all that different. We hiked the five miles to the scene of the final battle, where the castle had stood before being swallowed by the Earth. When we topped the last rise, we stopped. Although I'd known what we would find, I was still stunned, as there before us was the castle in the same spot where it had stood a decade before.

I felt the rage as we drew closer. Someone was definitely not happy that we had arrived. There was a loud splash, and I turned to the ocean. There was a giant fin slicing through the water, back and forth, about a quarter mile from the beach. My eyes narrowed as I wondered if the water was deep enough there to sustain a Great White shark. From the size, I was betting that was what I was seeing. We headed in the direction of the castle, scanning the terrain at all times.

I was getting ready to open the front door when it was opened from the inside. I stopped, stunned at the beauty before me. I had seen her before in the vision I'd had while sitting at Angelina's bedside. I knew she would be important to me, perhaps the most important person in my life, according to the vision. I slammed my blank face down as I wondered who the lovely apparition in front of us was. I was further stunned when she gave me a puzzled smile before claiming the bundle of fur in my arms and saying, "Oh, Tango! I was so worried about you."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Tango?"

Who in their right mind would name a dog Tango? _Wait_ a minute. If she knew the dog, then that had to mean…

**Bree's POV:**

I was in my room reading when I felt the electricity. I knew he was coming. I rushed to the bathroom and freshened up as much as I could. I debated on whether I should change or just stay dressed as I was, but then I decided I didn't want him to see me in my nightclothes the first time he saw me after more than five years. I quickly dressed in the clothes I had discarded earlier and then braided my hair. My blue-black hair reached my butt when it was braided, and when it was loose, it hit mid-thigh level. Once I had my jeans on, I slipped my feet into my moccasin slippers, then hurried to put on my bra and the lime green, gypsy-style blouse. I left the talisman under the blouse. I looked in the mirror and gasped. My hand went to the necklace, and I felt the power growing.

I hurried from the room, heading toward the front door. I felt the singing of power as I opened the door and stood stunned for a moment. He was just as I remembered him the day I had crashed into Ranger's Porsche 911 Turbo. I tried not to react to his masculinity, and in that, I was helped by the small dog he was holding in his arms. I sent a puzzled look toward the man holding my little dog, wondering how he had come to have him. I had called my neighbor, and when she went to get Tango, he ran outside and disappeared. I wondered how Lester had come to have him as I said, "Oh, Tango! I was so worried about you."

Lester lifted an eyebrow and said, "Tango?"

I felt his disapproval of the name and stiffened. I straightened to my full five-foot height and lifted my chin. "Yes. Something wrong with that?"

Lester smiled and I felt my knees weaken at the sexy look. Determined not to cave, I slammed my blank look down and stiffened as he leaned in close and said, "Well, beautiful, there are a lot of other names you could have chosen."

A voice from behind me demanded, "Hey! I thought that was my name."

Stephanie stepped up beside me, and Lester winked. "Sorry, Beautiful. I couldn't help myself. So who's your little friend here?"

I threw back my head and laughed.

Lester gave me a puzzled look, and Micha slapped him on the back. "Allow me to do the introductions. Lester Santos, meet my sister Bree."

The shock on Lester's face was incredible. Vince and Hector joined Micha in a laugh at Lester's expense. I stepped back with Stephanie, and the others joined us as we headed toward the great room. Steph leaned in to whisper that she was going to head to the kitchen to see if Donnella could fix the guys something to eat. I nodded and went in to join them as we waited for her to return.

I chose to sit in one of the love seats and set Tango down. He lay down beside me instantly and closed his eyes.

Vince shook his head and asked, "Where did you get that vicious animal?"

My eyes widened. "Tango isn't vicious. He's a sweetheart. He wouldn't hurt a fly."

Vince raised an eyebrow. "He nearly took my hand off when Les tried to hand him to me."

I tilted my head to the side and ran my hand over Tango as he lay beside me. "I've had him about five months. His owner put him in a garbage bag and tossed him in a dumpster. He was in bad shape when I found him."

Stephanie rejoined us at that moment, saying, "I'd like to give that asshole a piece of my mind."

I smiled. "You don't have to worry about that. He left his fingerprints all over, and the dumpster he put him in was at the police station. He ended up being sentenced for animal cruelty as well as illegal dumping. He had a cellmate that is an avid animal lover, and when he found out what the guy did to an innocent little puppy—well, let's just say the guy didn't stand a chance. The animal lover, who just happened to have the nickname of Animal, was seven foot three inches and weighed in at four hundred pounds. I heard it was solid muscle, too."

Lester shook his head. "I have no idea what drew me to that area of the city. We should have skirted around it since we were headed to the airport. When I stopped, he was barking at something that wasn't visible."

I placed my hand on top of Tango's head and closed my eyes. I jumped as evil, red eyes looked back at me and the owner of the eyes snarled in rage. His voice was shrill as he said, "I will win. I know your weaknesses."

I opened my eyes and saw Lester was watching me. I lowered my lashes so I wouldn't be quite as easy to read.

Lester went on, "I stopped the SUV long enough to open the door and whistle, and this little guy was in with us like a flash. He took exception to my trying to hand him off to Vince, though."

I nodded. "Tango doesn't normally like men. But he's never shown aggression before. Maybe the trauma of whatever was going on confused him."

Vince grimaced. "Well, as long as no one asks me to do dog duty, we'll be fine."

I grinned. "Don't worry. I'll take care of Tango."

At that moment, Donella, joined us, placed her hands together in front of her as if she were praying, and bowed her head. "Your dinner is prepared." As quietly as she'd joined us, she disappeared.

At the mention of food, Tango's eyes shot open and he was standing on the love seat next to me with his whole body quivering. I laughed and scooped him in my arms as I stood up to join the guys at the table.

As we made our way to the dining room, Micha stepped up beside me and hugged me to him. He leaned down and spoke gently. "I'm glad you're safe, Boo. I was never more afraid in my life as when I knew you were in danger and I didn't know if I would get to you in time."

I looked up at him with tears in my eyes. "Angelina bought me time. I can't sense anything from her now."

We stopped and Micha hugged me more fully to him.

Seeing that we had stopped, Lester came back to join us and softly asked, "What's wrong?"

Micha shook his head. "Bree's concerned for Angelina."

Lester laid a hand on my shoulder, and I felt an instant jolt of electricity race through me as my heart fluttered. My eyes locked with Lester's, and I saw his darken with desire. We stood there, frozen, each staring into the other's gaze. The sound of a throat clearing brought us back to the present, and I saw Lester visibly shake off the effects of whatever this was between us. "She had slipped into a coma before I left her at the hospital."

I felt shaky and bit my lip to hold back the sob that was trying to escape.

Les stepped close and placed his hand on the back of my neck as he leaned down and whispered, "I'm here, Chula."

I looked into his face and hesitated. The image of all those women he'd been with the past few years flashed in my mind, and I saw the way he treated them. I knew he wasn't ready for anything more…but I couldn't accept what he was willing to give. I stepped back so I was beside Micha and lowered my eyelids to hide my emotions. I nodded non-committedly and whispered, "Thanks." Looking up at my brother, I said, "I'll bet you guys must be hungry. We'd better go before Hector and Vince eat everything."

Micha narrowed his gaze on me and then nodded. "All right, Boo."

I felt Lester's puzzlement as we passed him on our way to the dining room. How could I explain that I no longer trusted him as a child trusts? It had been over five years since I had seen him, after all. It was the numerous women in his life that was the sticking factor, though. I refused to be the flavor of the month. I knew I would have to be strong, because his pull was powerful. But I refused to be just another notch on his bedpost. I would accept his help in the fight we would be waging soon…but I refused to let him all the way in.

I sat down at the table beside Micha, making sure there was enough space between Lester and myself. I put a few scraps from the various platters onto one of the saucers and set it on the floor before setting Tango down beside it. I smiled as he devoured the food and sat on his haunches to look up at me, checking to see if there were any more goodies coming his way. I lifted him in my arms and grinned as I said, "That's it for you, mister."

The guys ate in relative silence, and we hadn't been at the table long before Ranger joined us. He stepped behind Stephanie's chair and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, and the look in her eyes brought a lump to my throat. I couldn't help thinking I wanted what she had. I wanted a love like she shared with Ranger.

My eyes lost focus and I was transported somewhere in time. The room was beautifully done in shades of gold. It was romantic, the way the room was set up. Red roses on all the tables, with white satin tablecloths… There was an obvious wedding theme to the room. Soft strains of a hauntingly beautiful song filtered through. There was an overpowering sense of love everywhere in the room. The bride and groom entered the room, and there were shouts of congratulations throughout the room. The groom turned to the bride and held out his hand. She placed her hand in his, and they moved together to the soft strains of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John. The bride's eyes closed as she laid her head against her groom's chest, and when they turned and I saw who they were, I gasped. My eyes opened wide and I was suddenly back in the dining room where Micha and the others were eating a meal before calling it a night.

I looked around at the others and noticed Stephanie and Ranger had left at some point. Hector's gaze was on me, and he raised an eyebrow in question. I tried to smile reassuringly but realized it fell short when his eyes narrowed at my attempt. I felt myself blush, and I looked down at Tango, who was now sleeping on my lap.

The guys slid their chairs back from the table, and Micha asked, "You ready to show us where we'll be staying, Boo?"

I grinned and scooped Tango into my arms. "Sure. Right this way, gentlemen."

I led them to the wing I'd been using. As we entered the bedroom wing, I stopped at the first room on the right and opened the door. "Ranger put Vince in this room."

Vince stepped forward and looked inside the room. His eyes narrowed as he took in the room. "This looks promising, but I'd like to see the layout of the rest of this wing, as well."

I nodded. "No problem."

We continued on to the next room which was on the left side. I opened the door and told them, "Ranger thought Micha and Hector should go here."

They leaned in to check out the room and nodded.

We continued to the next room, which was on the right this time. I opened the door and lowered my lashes as I said, "This is Lester's room."

Lester stepped into the doorway and looked around. He nodded, then rejoined us in the hallway. All three of the guys were looking at me like they expected the tour to continue.

My eyes widened. "Uh…that's it."

Each of the four smiled and shook their heads.

Micha chuckled. "We need to see your room too, Boo. That way there are no surprises."

I bit my lip and tried to think if there was anything embarrassing out. I took another look at the four men in front of me and knew they weren't going to let me out of showing them my room. Taking a deep breath, I gave it up. I turned and led them to where I was staying. I opened the door, and my eyes closed in embarrassment as I realized my sexy nightie was hanging on the bathroom door in plain sight. I heard a low moan and felt my cheeks heat all the more. I closed the door and refused to meet their gazes as I said, "That's it. The whole wing. You'll be able to explore more tomorrow."

Vince nodded. "I'm turning in. I've missed a bit of sleep lately and need to play catch up."

Micha hugged me and whispered, "I'm glad you're safe, Boo."

I hugged him back and said, "Sorry you were worried."

He kissed my forehead and paused so Hector could hug me. As he held me in his arms, Hector said, "I've got your back, Boo."

I hugged him tight, letting his power hum through me and shore my walls. "Thanks, Hector."

I watched as they made their way toward the room they would be sharing, and then I turned to Lester. I watched him through wary eyes. His eyes narrowed on me, and he stepped forward to hug me as well. I stepped back before I could stop myself, and Lester stilled as a muscle clenched in his jaw. "Have I done something to upset you, Chula?"

I hesitated. "I don't know why that happened. I'm sorry."

Lester held his arms open, and after a momentary hesitation, I stepped into them. When they wrapped around me, I laid my head on his chest and felt something so powerful, it scared the crap out of me. I lifted my head, and when my own eyes met his hazel green ones, I was lost. His head lowered in slow motion, and my eyes closed as his mouth covered mine and our tongues dueled for supremacy. I moaned as I felt Lester's arms tighten around me and he lifted me in his arms.

Tango took exception, and suddenly, I felt myself falling onto my bed with Tango landing on top of me. I looked at Lester in confusion.

Lester was glaring as he said, "The little shit bit me."

I turned to look at Tango and could swear my little dog was grinning. As I looked at him, he winked at me. I burst out laughing and heard Lester mutter something, but it was so low, I couldn't hear what he was saying.

He turned his glare from Tango to me and put his hands on his hips. "You think your dog biting me is funny?"

I was laughing so hard, all I could do was shake my head.

Then Lester smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. It was the kind of smile that said, _I will get even with you… Just wait._


	5. Unsettled

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 5: Unsettled

**Bree's POV:**

Once Lester left, I made up a make-shift bed for Tango and then slipped into a pajama set…not the sexy nightie hanging on the door. That went back in my dresser. There was no way I would be able to wear that, thinking the guys knew what my nighttime attire consisted of. Instead, I picked out a silk shorts and camisole set in a powder blue, which included a matching robe, although I wouldn't need that yet. I crawled into bed and tried to go to sleep, but sleep eluded me. There was too much going on in my mind. I gave up after a while and climbed out of bed. Padding over to the window seat, I sat with my back to the wall and my legs drawn up in front of me, my arms wrapped around them. I rested my head on my knees as I looked out the window.

The view of the ocean was my main reason for choosing this room. I especially loved watching the beauty of the waves crashing violently during a storm, but at times like this, when everything was calm, there was a soothing quality to the sound of the waves that was also nice. I unwrapped my arms from around my knees and leaned my head back against the wall, looking up toward the ceiling as I stretched my legs out on the seat.

I thought about the vision I'd had while sitting at the table with the guys at dinner. The scene was everything I'd dreamed for my own wedding reception. What had shocked me was the familiarity of the groom. I'd seen the vision many times before, whenever I imagined what my wedding day would be like. Never before had the groom felt so real to me, as if I were actually touching him. Then when the couple turned, I'd seen myself being held by a very real man, but his face wasn't there. I was shocked that the vision could be so clear, yet also blank.

I felt Tango jump up onto the window seat and flop down so his head and front paws were resting on my abdomen. Absently, I placed my hand on his head and ran my hand back and forth. My thoughts went back to when I first met Lester.

I'd gotten a funny, warm feeling inside just being near Lester. He stood six feet three inches tall and had a lean, muscular build, with lady killer written all over him. His brown hair had a wind-tossed look to it and was just shy of reaching his shoulder. He had mesmerizing, hazel-green eyes you could get lost in. Lester's complexion was nearly the same shade as my own; however, the tone was more Latin American. When it came to looks, Lester had hit the jackpot. He was drop-dead gorgeous, in a masculine way, and he had charisma that drew women in droves. Although Lester was known as the jokester of Rangeman and to outsiders, he appeared fun-loving and a light-weight, I knew deep down that was just the surface of the man. I felt the inner depth that not everyone was privy to and knew that in order to see the real man, one had to look beneath the surface.

My abilities had taken on a life of their own once Stephanie and I had arrived at Rangeman. I'd discovered new abilities I hadn't even known I had. After Ranger and the guys had sprung the trap at Tex's house, I hadn't been able to shut down as I usually could. Somehow, I'd known that Lester was the one I'd needed to help me, so when he asked, I'd told him I needed him. I'd desperately needed the silence that only he could give me. He'd wrapped me in his arms and there'd been only silence.

Over the course of time, as we'd prepared for the coming battle, I'd realized I felt safest when I was near Lester. In retrospect, it was kind of odd that the person I would seek out was the one person I couldn't read. In a vision, I'd seen Ranger get injected when he was five, and I'd seen the Fallen One's confusion because Ranger hadn't reacted as he'd been expected to. the Fallen One had readied another injection, and when he'd given Lester the candy and then the shot, Les had passed out. I'd seen what had happened but hadn't been aware until later when Ranger made a comment, that the younger child with him that day was Lester.

The only time I'd actually known something about Les was when he was shadowing Tex. Stephanie, Angel, Julie, and I were practicing self-defense, and I'd reached out to help Bobby up. I'd had a vision of Bobby grieving, and when Ranger asked, "What's wrong, little one?" I'd looked up at him and whispered, "Death waits in the wings." Ranger had asked if I could see who it was. I'd turned away and replayed the vision I'd seen before turning back to Ranger and telling him, "Lester's in danger." I'd seen Bobby at a cemetery placing something on a grave as he asked why Lester had to die.

Lester had been a huge part of my life for the next several years. He'd made it a point to take me to Point Pleasant to enjoy the beach, Seaside for the boardwalk, as well as Atlantic City. He'd declared that he was going to make sure I enjoyed my teenage years. We'd gone to movies and done picnics in the park. Lester had given me silence and fun, something that had been lacking in my life because of my abilities. It wasn't until I graduated high school and got a full scholarship to the University of South Dakota that Lester and I lost touch. He'd been there every time I'd made it home that first year, but then over the past five years, every time I'd returned home, he'd just taken off with his latest flavor of the month—or at least, that's what I'd been told. The first visit back when I learned he was on a cruise with some woman he'd recently started dating, I'd felt incredibly hurt. I'd hid my feelings as well as I could and told myself not to be such a baby. After all, it wasn't like I had a hold on Lester or anything.

I closed my eyes and relived the feel of his mouth on mine and felt my skin warm. Opening my eyes, I looked out to sea. I took a deep breath and then looked down at Tango sleeping on me. I scooped him up and stood. It was late and I needed to get some sleep if I was going to be any help to Stephanie tomorrow. I set Tango on the bed I had made for him and then climbed under the covers. This time, I had no trouble falling asleep.

**Lester's POV:**

I stood at the window, one arm raised with my hand on the wall near the window, looking out at the night. I thought about the past several hours and wondered what was in store for us this time. I thought about my first glimpse of Bree in over five years. I hadn't recognized her because she had changed so much. The last I had seen her, she was a little girl.

When I first met Bree, she was fourteen years old. She'd been barely five feet tall and might have weighed all of eighty-five pounds soaking wet. Even now, her hair was silky and so black that it shown blue. Her eyes were a pale blue and her skin was a pale copper tone. It was obvious she had Native American blood in her makeup. At fourteen, she'd been stunning and drop dead beautiful. I'd never had the reaction to her that I'd had when I'd seen her tonight, though.

She had grown up when I wasn't looking. I recalled the last time I'd seen her as if it were yesterday. She had come home for Christmas and I'd been so excited because I'd found her one of those little ceramic unicorns she collected. She'd been so excited, she'd thrown her arms around me and kissed me. One of the contract workers had made the comment about the two of us together looking sexy. I'd been disgusted because in my mind, she was just a little girl. Four months later, when Ranger told me Bree was coming home, I'd made the decision to take a vacation and go on a cruise. I'd been surprised when a woman I'd picked up at a bar had shown up on the cruise as well. I'd later found out she'd followed me to the ship and purchased a last minute ticket. I'd spent the entire cruise evading her. It wasn't until I got back to Rangeman that I'd learned the rumor going around was that I'd taken her on the cruise. When I confronted her, she admitted to telling her friends that. When I got through with her, she lost no time in going home, packing, and leaving Trenton.

The next time Bree had been due back was for the fourth of July, and I'd decided it was time for another trip. When one of the contract workers asked if I was taking my latest girlfriend, I'd given him my joker's smile and a wink. Hell, it was none of their business what I did, but if it kept them off my back I'd have let them think what they wanted.

It wasn't until I saw the lovely creature that'd opened the door and she'd recognized the dog in my arms that I'd realized it was Bree. I knew at that moment that it had been a long time since I'd last seen her. She had grown up with a vengeance. The beauty was more pronounced, and her five-foot frame had matured as well. She had a knock-out body, and at a guess, I would say she was within ten pounds of her weight when I last saw her. The only difference was the woman I saw tonight had a very strong effect on my body. Hell, I'd taken a cold shower and the cold hadn't even registered.

I leaned my head against my raised hand and wondered if the fact that I was so turned on by Bree made me a pervert of some kind. After all, she'd only been fourteen when I met her, and now she was twenty-four. How would it look for a thirty-eight-year-old man to be chasing a twenty-four-year-old woman?

**Julie's POV:**

I was pulled from sleep by a scraping sound. I lay still in my bed as I listened intently. It was getting closer. I carefully scooted my way over to the nightstand by the bed and flipped on the light. The scraping sound stopped. I looked around to see if I could see anything that would make the sound I'd heard. _Shit_! I hated stuff like this. Just as I was debating if I should make a run for the door, the sound came again. I screamed. I couldn't help it. I was so startled by the sound, I reacted.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Jace stood in the doorway with his gun in hand. I had the opportunity to see that he was wearing sweatpants and his chest was bare before he had wrapped his arm around my waist and was carrying me out of the room. We exited the room and he set me down, giving me a thorough once over. We were quickly joined by Milo and Ram.

Ram had his weapon out as well, and there was a fierce look on his face. His eyes narrowed and he barked an order that Jace and I stay where we were and told Milo to join him. They went into my bedroom, and there were several seconds of silence before the sound of a gun going off made me jump.

Jace wrapped his arm around me as we waited for Ram and Milo to rejoin us. There was the sound of a phone ringing, and I heard Ram's voice saying, "Everything's all right. Julie screamed and Jace got her out of the bedroom. Milo and I did a run through, and whatever it is, it's dead now."

I started shaking. Jace held me tighter and leaned down to say, "It's all right, love. You're safe."

I rested my head against his chest and tried to relax. I was transported back to the night of my senior prom, when Jace had taken me in his arms and danced the last dance of the night with me. I felt the same excitement and warmth I had then at being held in his arms.

I closed my eyes and moved closer, only to be startled by Ram's voice next to us as he said, "Whatever it was, it's dead now. It seems to have gotten in through a hole in the foundation. We closed it up so everything should be okay for now. We'll work at getting it closed up better in the morning."

I bit my lip. "What about the other rooms? Are there more holes?"

Ram grinned. "Don't worry, Julie. Nothing else will get in through there tonight. We'll get it patched up first thing in the morning."

I sighed, rolled my eyes, and said, "Fine. Then one of you can sleep in there and I'll take your room."

My eyes narrowed as I caught the look of humor that passed their faces. I elbowed Jace in the stomach and stormed into the nearest room and slammed the door. It wasn't until I got a good whiff of Jace's scent that I knew I'd picked the wrong damn room. I moved over to the bed and plopped down, scooting in under the covers. I was asleep in seconds.

**Mary Alice's POV:**

I lay as still as I possibly could in my bed, not making a noise. My imagination was running wild, just as it had when we came here ten years ago for the final battle. I could feel them attacking the foundation and knew it wouldn't be long before they had a way in. This group was stronger than the trio we had fought then. Of course, we no longer had the luxury of childish innocence on our side. We had lived through our own trials and developed insecurities that we would have to overcome to make it out of this alive and stronger than when we started.

I was glad that Binkie was close by. I always felt more grounded when he was around. I was eight the first time I saw him. When we were battling the evil ones, I'd felt a surge of power whenever he came close. Unfortunately, he probably saw me as only a little girl. Even though I was only eighteen, I felt much older most days.

Binkie… I pulled his image into my head and felt warm all over. Binkie was six feet four inches of perfection. He had the muscular build of John Cena, and his face reminded me of an old actor my grandpa used to watch all the time: Pete Duel. Just like Pete, Binkie had a dimple in each cheek and he was extremely good-looking, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Binkie's light brown hair was about two inches long all over, and his sherry colored eyes were warm. He was always there when I needed grounding. I fell in love with him when he actually saw my horse Blackie. Whenever I had a problem, I felt drawn to him. He validated what I was feeling and never made me feel as if I was in the way. Thinking about him now, a calm settled over me, and I found myself relaxing. I was still aware of the others battering at the castle, but I felt safe…at least for now.

**Bella's POV:**

I felt the energy of the castle. It was different than it had been ten years ago. I couldn't settle. I turned over and stared silently at the door, giving a deep sigh. No matter how I tried, I had the feeling I wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. When I felt like this, only one of the Merry Men, as Stephanie had dubbed them all those years ago, could settle me. Unfortunately for me, he was in a totally different wing.

Mary Alice had told me once that just conjuring up an image of a special someone was enough to calm her. Although she would never admit it, I knew she was talking about Binkie. I had tried many times, but the image I saw didn't do my Merry Man justice. I tried to picture him—six feet five inches tall, weighing two hundred forty to fifty pounds. His blond hair was done in a buzz cut, and I had dreams of running my hands through his hair as he held me close. His eyes were baby blue and he had a dimple in his right cheek in a face that was chiseled. His skin was tanned from all the time he spent outdoors, and I loved to watch him work out because his muscles had a way of rippling that made me warm in places south. Over the years, I had learned a lot about him. He was an expert in martial arts and all forms of hand-to-hand combat, as well as being an expert in weaponry.

Over the years, I had taken notes every time I came into contact with him, and I had learned that he was an avid Civil War buff and had a Master's degree in the history of war and conflict. I'd noticed him reading mysteries, thrillers, and especially historical works dealing with war and conflicts—primarily Africa, but others as well. I'd had occasion to hear him listening to a wide range of music as well, anything from classical to country to rock. Unfortunately, every time I spoke to him, he would blush and make excuses to leave the room.

I sighed. I was starting to get a complex. I knew from the times I had overheard him before he knew I was around that he was very intelligent and had a finely tuned sense of humor. I got the feeling that even though he didn't talk much, when he did say something, it would be worth listening to.

I turned over again and punched my pillow. Frowning I wondered if there was some way that Ranger would switch the guys around a bit so I could be closer to Hal.

Hal… Even the sound of his name had me feeling warm. My eyes closed and sleep finally claimed me.

**Stephanie's POV:**

I stood silently watching the twins sleep. It had been an eventful day, and I was relieved that we had found Bree and she was safe here with us. When Carlos had left the bedroom to make a call, I'd made my way here to look in on my babies. I smiled. If Alex and Sky knew I was referring to them as babies, even if it was only in my own mind, they would be outraged.

I felt a hand settle on my shoulder, and I leaned back into Carlos and relaxed as I softly asked, "What happened?"

His voice was whisper soft as he replied, "Ram, Milo, and Jace were woken when Julie screamed. Ram and Milo checked it out, and Ram shot something… We're just not sure exactly what it is."

"How's Julie?"

I felt the vibrations as he laughed, "She demanded one of the guys take her room and then staked her claim on Jace's room."

I smiled. I could just picture Julie doing that. I bit my lip as I debated whether I should bring up another matter or let it go, since all the guys were settled into their rooms. I should have known I couldn't pull anything over on Batman.

I felt his smile as he leaned down and kissed my neck. His voice was warm on my neck as he said, "I smell smoke, Babe. What's going on in there?" He kissed my head as he waited for the answer.

I sighed. "I know you have the guys set up in the group they arrived in, but I was wondering if it might be a wise idea to switch Tank and Hal."

There was a pause. "Explain, Babe."

"Whenever Mary Alice comes to Rangeman, she always makes a beeline for Tank's office. I think his strength plays off her abilities and they draw strength from each other…the way I draw strength from Rodriguez. We're good working partners."

Ranger turned me to face him and our eyes locked. He studied me for several seconds before nodding and saying, "You're right. I'll see to it in the morning. But for now, it's time for us to go to bed."

I frowned playfully. "But I'm not tired."

Carlos smiled his full two-hundred-watt smile and leaned forward till his forehead was against mine and then whispered, "That's good, Babe, because neither am I."

With that, he lifted me in his arms and carried me through to the bedroom.

_I would love to hear what you think of the story so far. I love getting reviews._


	6. A Protector is Found

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 6: A Protector is Found

**Bree's POV:**

I felt eyes on me as my mind cleared from the dream I'd been having. I opened one eyelid enough to look around and saw Sky sitting on my bed with her legs folded Indian-style. Her elbows were resting on her legs and her hands were supporting her chin. She grinned, and suddenly, I felt an incredible feeling of love surrounding me.

I opened my eyes more fully and looked around for Tango.

Sky giggled. "He's with Alex."

At that, my eyes widened because Tango was definitely not the kind of dog to bond with a male—even a male child. I'd been shocked he'd allowed Lester to handle him to bring him here.

Sky nodded. "He was whining and Alex opened your door. At first, Tango started to growl at Alex, but Alex told him he would only take him outside if he behaved himself."

I smiled as I pictured the scene. I reached over and flicked Sky's nose lightly. "I'll join everyone in a few minutes. I need to freshen up and get dressed first. Any idea what's on the agenda for today?"

Sky tilted her head. "Mom is running searches. You and Lester need to go to Atlantic City today." She paused and gave me a puzzled look before asking, "Who's the hobbit?"

I frowned. "Why do you ask?"

Sky blinked. "He's in Atlantic City. You'll run into him. You need to bring him back here."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would we bring him back here?"

Sky smiled and it lit up the whole room. "He's my protector.

I studied her for several seconds and marveled at what a beautiful child she was, inside as well as out. Sky was a great deal like Stephanie in her ability to read people. She could look at someone that others deemed a lost cause and know just what to do in order to draw the goodness inside them out. Sky was a healer, able to discard the evil, leaving only the good behind. She was a beautiful child, nearly a carbon copy of her mother, the only difference being the tone of her skin, which was a pale café latte. Her curly brown hair was just past her shoulders and her eyes were as blue as her mother's.

I nodded. "All right. I'll be with you guys shortly, and then Lester and I will go find the hobbit."

Sky smiled and my heart felt warm. She scrambled off my bed and skipped toward the door. She turned back and the glow of her eyes told me she was seeing something. It was only a second before her eyes returned to normal. She giggled and her gaze met mine. She winked and said, "You have to ride the Ferris wheel."

I rolled my eyes and smiled wryly. "All right. I'll ride the Ferris wheel, but if it stops at the top, you're in trouble."

She giggled and ran out.

Although I was playing with her, there was an element of real fear in what I'd said. I'd had the nightmare several times lately. I was on a Ferris wheel and it suddenly stopped at the top. I could feel danger approaching, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I shook off thoughts of the dream and made my way to the bathroom. After answering nature's call, I brushed my hair before braiding it into a single plait. I added a light dusting of makeup after brushing my teeth, and then I headed back to the bedroom to dress. I pulled on a navy blue, short-sleeved, cotton blouse, black jeans, and a pair of strappy, brown sandals. Touching the necklace I always wore under my shirts, I felt the buzz of power zinging through it before heading out.

I made my way through to the dining room. Looking around, it appeared that I was the last one to arrive. I saw Tango seated beside Alex's chair, and the minute I walked into the room, his whole body wiggled in excitement. I fixed a plate from the selections on the sidebar and took the only seat left open. I was situated between Alex and Sky, and directly across from me was Lester. I did the best I could to ignore his pull and ate the fruit and yogurt I'd selected. Taking the piece of bacon I had on my plate, I broke it into pieces on the saucer beside my plate. I set it on the floor for Tango, and he devoured it before sitting back on his haunches and looking up at me as if asking where the rest of his breakfast was.

After testing the waters to see if he was getting any more food, Tango finally gave up and laid down beside my feet with his head on his front paws.

It didn't take me long to eat my breakfast. I felt a nudge and looked over to see Sky was motioning with her head that I should ask Lester about Atlantic City. I pretended to not understand what she wanted and couldn't help but laugh when she rolled her eyes and gave a deep, put-upon sigh. I took pity on her and turned to where Lester was sitting.

"Do you have plans today, Lester?"

He looked at me quietly, and I could see his eyes studying me. "No, I'm free. What are you planning?"

Sky nudged my leg.

I bit back a laugh. "Well, I wanted to take a drive to Atlantic City."

Les grinned. "Now that's what I call a good idea. Are we looking for anything in particular?"

I shrugged. "Possibly."

Lester lifted an eyebrow. "Do you at least know when you want to go? Or what time we might get back?"

I made a face at him, crossing my eyes and sticking out my tongue. "We can leave as soon as we finish breakfast. As to what time we'll get back, I'm not sure."

He nodded. "All right." Turning to Ranger, Les said, "I take it you won't need my help today."

Ranger moved his head minutely to indicate a head shake. "You're covered."

I glanced down at Tango and bit my lip.

Alex placed a hand on my thigh and leaned close to me. "Don't worry. I'll take care of him."

I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "How did you do it? Tango doesn't have a lot to do with guys of any age."

Alex smiled. "We understand each other."

I grinned. "Thanks. I'm not sure when we'll get back, though."

Alex's eyes clouded over for a moment, and when they cleared, he turned to meet my gaze. "You'll return when the mission is complete."

I rolled my eyes and ruffled his hair.

He sighed and gave me a pained look. I was getting ready to scoot my chair back, when Alex grabbed my hand and his eyes bore into mine. There was an intensity in his eyes that gave me pause. Alex whispered, "When danger comes, trust Lester."

I tilted my head to the side and puzzled over his statement. This trip was getting more complicated by the minute. I nodded my agreement and then rose from my seat and turned to Lester. "Are you ready?"

Lester pushed back from the table. I followed him out to where the SUVs were parked. When we reached a certain point, Lester held his hand in a way that made it apparent he wanted me to wait there. I watched as he checked over the vehicle, even going so far as to check underneath. When he was satisfied, he waved me forward. He opened the door for me and waited till I climbed into the passenger seat before closing it. He made his way around the front and got into the driver's seat. I sat quietly while he backed us up and headed in the direction of Atlantic City.

As I sat back and trusted him to get us to our destination, I let my gaze go to the scenery outside my window. We made the trip in record time. We had to have passed at least seven or eight police cars, and I know at one point, Les was going nearly one hundred miles an hour. It always amazed me how Lester could fly under the radar. Just as I was getting ready to close my eyes, I felt something watching. I frowned. This was new. Always before when I was with Lester, it had felt as if we were cloaked. Whatever this was that had found us, it felt evil. I clenched my hands and looked over to Lester.

I knew by the clenching of his jaw that he was aware of the thing as well. I sat silently beside him as we made our way to our final destination. Lester found a parking space in the lot and we climbed out. He held out his hand to me, and I placed my hand in his as we made our way toward the boardwalk. As we walked, memories of the first time he'd brought me here surfaced. It was the first time I'd had fun in a long time. Lester had given me the silence I needed to forget this gift I had, and for a few short hours, I'd been allowed to be a teenager.

As we made our way along the boardwalk, I felt the danger creeping closer and found myself stepping closer to Lester. He looked down at me and wrapped his arm around me as we continued on. We stopped off and on, looking at the little stands with crafty souvenirs. Lester bought a roll of tickets for the rides, and we indulged ourselves. When we were down to our last tickets, Lester turned to me with a raised eyebrow. I remembered my promise to Sky and let out a sigh, motioning toward the Ferris wheel. "I promised Sky I would ride the Ferris wheel."

Lester raised an eyebrow. "Don't sound so thrilled."

I grimaced. "I can't help it. I'm not exactly thrilled about riding them to begin with. I've had a few dreams lately and am now even less thrilled with them."

Les chuckled. "Come on, Chula. I'll keep you safe."

I bit my lip, debating. Finally, I nodded and agreed. "All right. But if we get stuck at the top, both you and Sky are in deep trouble."

Les smiled and my heart skipped a beat. We made our way to the Ferris wheel, and Lester handed over the last tickets from the roll. Once we were both seated and the bar was locked across us, our chair lifted off the platform so the next seat could be filled. As we made our way to the top of the wheel, I felt increasingly more anxious. Les continued to hold my hand in his. I steeled myself to look down at the ground below us. My eyes widened as I noticed an incredibly odd-looking man dressed like the hobbit from the _Lord of the Rings_. I wondered if that was the person we were looking for. I was about to say something to Les, when my worst nightmare became reality. The seat we were in reached the very top of the wheel, and there was a loud clank, as if something had just broken. We swayed back and forth before coming to a stop.

_Shit!_

I clenched my hands as they started shaking. I knew whatever danger was out there was coming for us. I turned to Lester and saw that he was aware of it as well. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer. I felt the need to hide but wasn't sure we would be able to pull it off.

I must have let out a sound because Lester asked, "What's wrong, Chula?"

"This is from my worst nightmare, the one I've been having for the past few weeks. I was trapped at the top of a damn Ferris wheel! I felt the danger coming for me, but there was no way down or to get away."

Les leaned in close and said, "I can hide us, Chula."

I debated, remembering the feeling of being watched as we made our way here. I was no longer sure that Lester would be able to hide us from the evil lurking. Some of what I was thinking must have shown on my face because Lester placed his hand gently under my chin and lifted my face so our eyes met.

His eyes were steady on mine as he said, "But you'll have to trust me."

I looked at him and remembered what Alex had said. I knew it was our only chance. I nodded. Lester leaned back, gently wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me into him. Before I knew it, his mouth covered mine and I was being bombarded with sensations and emotions I'd never experienced before. My mouth opened under his, and Lester's tongue thrust into my mouth, magnifying the sensations by ten.

I wasn't sure how long we were there, locked in each other's embrace. I had totally forgotten all about the fear associated with my nightmare. All I could do was react to the feelings Lester was unleashing inside me. The sudden sound of clearing throats had us breaking apart. We looked up to see several men gathered around us with knowing smiles on their faces. In my mind, I heard Ranger's voice sarcastically saying, _"What a way to be aware of your surroundings Santos."_

Lester was the first to recover. He grinned and stood, helping me up beside him. One of the men stepped forward, and I had a funny feeling as he spoke to us. I couldn't put my finger on just what it was, but there was something familiar about him.

I noticed that he never met Les's gaze as they talked. He said, "I apologize for any inconvenience."

Les nodded. "No problem. It was just one of those things, I guess."

There was a hissing sound to the man's voice as he said, "I'm so glad you understand. Let me offer you tickets so you can ride free."

I stiffened. Something was telling me we were being set up. I looked up at Les and he winked at me. Les shook his head. "That won't be necessary. We were actually done with riding. Thanks anyway."

Displeasure was emanating off the man. He lifted his head marginally, and I caught a flash of angry red eyes. I forced myself to not react. The man nodded and seemed to slink into the crowd. I instantly felt better.

Les put his arm around my shoulder and leaned down to whisper, "I think we found one of them."

I nodded. "I'll text Stephanie and see if she can run a search on who owns things here."

Les lowered his eyes to my mouth, and his eyes darkened with desire.

Just then, someone made a comment. "Man, don't those two look hot together?"

Suddenly, Lester's blank looked slammed down and he backed up a step. "Are you ready to go?"

I felt lossed at the sudden change in his demeanor. I bit my lip and looked around before turning back to Les. "We need to find the hobbit and talk to him about coming with us."

Lester looked in the direction I had just looked and his eyes widened. "Shit! And I thought Mooner, Sally, and Randy were strange characters."

I grinned.

Lester motioned me to precede him. "Let's get to it."

We walked over to the funny little man, and I gave him a smile and introduced us. "Hello. My name is Bree, and this is Lester."

The man turned to face me and returned my smile. He bowed. "Yes. I know you. The little one sent you. She told me I would find you here today. She asked that I keep evil at bay so you would be safe."

I frowned. I wondered why Sky hadn't said anything about that to me. I held out my hand and asked, "What's your name?"

The little man giggled. "I go by many names, but the one Sky calls me is the Hobbit. I shall therefore answer to Hobbit."

"Okay. Do you need to bring anything with you?"

His eyes gleamed as he took in the various vendors. "As a matter of fact, I haven't had much to eat today. Is it all right if I get a wee bit of a snack?"

I glanced at Lester, and he had a bemused expression on his face. He nodded, so I shrugged and told Hobbit, "Get what you'd like."

The little man jumped with glee, rubbing his hands together, and then giggled and said, "Goody, goody, gum drop!"

With that, he was racing through the various concession stands along the boardwalk, and Lester and I had the hapless task of trying to keep up. When Hobbit finally had everything he wanted, we made our way to the SUV. When I saw how high off the ground the door to the SUV was, I knew there might be a small problem. I had a hard enough time getting inside, and Hobbit was a good foot and a half shorter than I was.

Lester leaned in and whispered, "This should be fun."

Lester opened the front door and helped me up into the seat before opening the back door. Hobbit handed the bags with all the goodies to Lester and then tried climbing up into the back seat. After three tries, the little guy still had no luck in achieving his goal. Lester shook his head and sighed. He nudged Hobbit out of the way and placed the bags on the back seat. Then he turned and put his hands on his hips and looked down at Hobbit. Shaking his head again, Lester lifted Hobbit and set him on the back seat and stepped back so he could shut the door. He made his way around to the driver's door and climbed in behind the wheel.

As soon as we got under way, the crinkling sounds of bags told us Hobbit was enjoying the snack he had picked up. I turned so I was sitting facing Lester and would be able to talk with Hobbit better. I watched through widened eyes as Hobbit tore through the food he had picked up from the various concession stands. The food lasted no more than ten minutes, and then Hobbit took one of the napkins he had and wiped his hands and face. He crumpled the bags and placed everything into a plastic bag before carefully putting it on the floor of the vehicle. Hobbit leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. Within seconds, he was sound asleep, complete with earth-shattering snores.

Lester and I turned to each other in stunned surprise as we listened to what sounded like a 747 airplane trapped in a bottle with a microphone amplifying the sound. Sheesh! If Grandma Mazur was a nine point seven on the Richter scale, this guy must be a twelve point nine. I opened my purse to dig around and found a leftover pair of ear plugs. I put them in my ears and felt Lester's eyes on me.

I turned to him, and he motioned to the ear plugs and then pointed to himself. I scrounged around in my purse to see if there was another pair floating around somewhere. I came up empty and turned to shake my head to let him know he was out of luck.

Lester glared and gave me a pleading look.

I giggled and sent him a palms up.

Lester hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand, and I could almost hear him thinking, _"Just wait—by the time you get done, there will be a load of shit headed your way. I'm keeping track of everything, Chula."_


	7. Danger

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 7: Danger

**Stephanie's POV:**

When Bree and Lester left, I felt a niggling of unease. I decided to trust Lester to take care of Bree, and I planned to get started on finding some connections to learn who we needed to be aware of this go round. Once we finished breakfast, I left the twins with Ranger while I went to make use of the computer. The first thing I did was to make sure there were no loose ends from those we had fought ten years ago. Once I was sure there were no connections, I moved on to checking out the people around us. There had been too many traitors the last time. I wanted to make sure those closest to us were exactly who they claimed to be.

As I got started, a few people popped out at me, and I started searches on them as well. Bella and Mary Alice's former classmate—the one who had given a speech at their high school graduation—as well as Julie's date to her senior prom and Bree's neighbor were the first three to come to mind. My last three stalkers made the list as well. There was something about each of those that set them apart from all the other incidents in our lives.

Once I got everything under way, I made a call to Rodriguez. He picked up on the third ring and I could hear the smile in his voice as he said, "You just can't stay away from me, can you?"

I threw my head back and laughed. "In your dreams, Macho Man."

Rodriguez chuckled. "What can I do for you, sexy?"

"I have some searches going. I need you to look through the skips we have coming in and see what you can find under the surface."

There was a pregnant pause, and then he asked, "Does this have to do with why all of you tore out of here like bats out of hell?"

I smiled, even though he wouldn't be able to see me, and replied, "Yes."

There was another pause as he put the pieces together and then: "Shit! Watch your backs. I'm sending you an email special delivery. It's encrypted with bells and whistles, so you'll need Hector to decipher it for you."

"All right."

"Be careful, Steph. I want my partner in one piece when she comes back." He hesitated. "I'm going to get it telling you this, because she doesn't want Woody to know. She's afraid he'll worry about her and not be able to concentrate. Angel is pregnant. The doctor confirmed it just today."

I bit my lip. "How would you like to go for a drive, Macho Man?"

There was a soft chuckle. "You want me to bring Angel to you?"

I hesitated. If I made the wrong choice, two of my close friends would be in a world of hurt. My gut was screaming at me to get Angel here ASAP, though. "I do."

"You got it. We'll be there for dinner. Anyone else?"

I got a sudden glimpse from ten years before and I laughed softly before adding, "Better bring the Three Stooges as well."

Rodriguez gave a deep belly laugh before replying, "Done."

I disconnected the call and sat back in the chair. I felt marginally better knowing Rodriguez would soon be here and he was bringing Woody's wife, Angel. I smiled as I thought of the surprise Angel had for him.

Ten years ago when I met Ranger and the rest of the Rangeman guys, I also met Hector's younger sister, Angel. She had stayed with Micha and Bree before the battle, then moved to the protected area underground. When the battle was over, she moved into an apartment in one of the Rangeman buildings, which was when I began noticing the look in her eyes whenever Woody was near. I'd noticed the way he would look at her as well. They danced around each other for two years before he asked her for a date. It took another three years of dating before he asked her to marry him. One year later, they said their marriage vows and moved in together.

At the twins' last birthday party, I had come across Angel crying in the bathroom at Pino's. She broke down and told me about the problems she was having conceiving. She was afraid she would never get the baby she desperately wanted. They had been trying everything the past three years, and there was still no baby. I worried that the timing might be an issue with the unknown we were facing. My eyes narrowed and I was determined that whatever it was out there would not harm the growing child in Angel. I sighed and turned back to the computer on the desk.

There was a flashing icon that let me know Rodriguez had sent me the email. I lifted my phone and called Hector. When he picked up, I told him, "I got an encrypted email from Rodriguez."

"Be there in a flash."

The phone went dead. I looked down at the offending item in my hand and sighed. As much as I'd tried over the past ten years to instill phone etiquette into the guys, the lessons had yet to take hold. Although Carlos always managed to say goodbye before hanging up in off hours, when they were working, the guys were singularly focused on the job at hand and phone etiquette didn't make the list of important things to remember.

I was still sitting there glaring at my phone when Hector entered the room. I heard his soft chuckle and then felt the kiss on the top of my head as he said, "You're cute when you glare at your phone like that."

I lifted my glare to him, and the chuckle turned to a throaty laugh. "What do you have for me?"

I clicked on the icon and then stood so he could take the chair.

Hector waved me away. "Go. Have fun. I'll call you when I get to the message."

I laid my hand on his shoulder as I kissed the tear drop under his eye. "Thanks."

With that, I made my way out to the deck overlooking the ocean. I stepped out and did a quick scan. Alex and Sky were running around playing with Tango. Ranger was standing at the railing watching them, and from the way he tensed, I knew he was aware of my presence. The girls were playing a game of beach volleyball with a few of the guys, and everyone looked as if they were having fun.

I made my way over to where Ranger was standing and placed my hand on his back as I leaned my head against him. I felt the electricity on the back of my neck that was second nature whenever I was around him. As my eyes scanned the ocean, I noticed several large fins slicing through the water. I tensed, uncomfortable with the closeness of the massive creatures. It seemed to me as if the distance from shore became increasingly smaller with each pass. I wondered if Great Whites were known for beaching themselves. I remembered when we were here before and the sight of those massive jaws tearing apart the boat, as well as the men who were taking aim at Bree and Micha.

The smell of Christmas had me turning around, and I smiled at the sight of the man standing there. I moved away from Ranger slightly and grinned at Diesel.

He shook his head and returned my smile. "You are so beautiful. You have really come into your own."

I blushed and tried to make light of the compliment, but Diesel just shook his head. I shrugged. "Are you the one we have to thank for Bree's safe arrival here?"

He nodded slowly. "Angelina bought us time. I was able to get Bree and bring her here."

"Will Angelina make it?"

Diesel hesitated. "I'm not sure. I didn't think her injuries were serious enough to put her in a coma, yet she now fights for every breath."

I felt my hand engulfed by Ranger's, even though he was still watching over the children; I knew he was here if I needed him. I squeezed to let him know I'd gotten the message and then focused on Diesel, "Could something else be causing the coma?"

Diesel's eyes narrowed, and I could see the wheels turning as he considered what I'd just said. "I'll need to think about it and do some checking."

I gave him a wry smile. "I guess we all have some investigating to do."

Diesel's eyes glowed and there was a sudden tenseness about him. I whipped around and located the twins before my eyes went to where I had last seen the giant fins slicing though the water. My heart stopped and I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I moved to get to them as fast as I could. There was the sound of weapons being discharged and shouted commands. The only thing I was aware of was the fact that my babies were in danger and I needed to get to them.

**Ranger's POV:**

I stood at the railing on the deck watching the twins as they raced around on the beach with Bree's little dog, Tango. I felt Stephanie's presence the second she stepped out of the house. I kept my gaze on the twins as she made her way to where I was standing, and I felt her hand on my back as she laid her head against me. I felt the electricity that happened every time we connected. I knew she would scan the area for possible dangers. She might be lackadaisical when it came to her safety, but when it involved her children, she was beyond reproach.

When I got a whiff of cinnamon and pine, I knew Diesel had finally come out of his room to join us. I couldn't help but listen in on their conversation. When he told her that Angelina being in a coma was odd, I reached out my hand and took her smaller hand in mine. She squeezed my hand, solidifying our connection.

As they continued speaking, I scanned the beach before turning my gaze to the ocean, where the sharks were slicing through the water. My eyes narrowed at the potential danger. I was a second faster than my men in drawing my weapon and opening fire as I shouted out orders. My children were in danger, and I was on the move.

**Julie's POV:**

After the incident the night before, when I woke up, I knew I would insist on checking over everything in our bedroom wings. I didn't want any more surprises. I was surprised at how calm and relaxed I was when I first woke, though, especially after the previous night's excitement. First thing I did was to go into the bathroom and answer nature's call, then I stripped down and stepped into the shower. _Damn!_ It wasn't until I went to shampoo my hair that I realized I wasn't in my own bathroom, but was in fact in Jace's. I decided to just bite the bullet and used his shampoo and body wash. When I was clean, I stepped out and dried off before going and searching for a makeshift outfit to wear till I could get to my clothes. I found a T-shirt—black, of course—and pulled it on over my head.

Once I was dressed, I made my way back to my own room. I was about to open the door, when the thought of Jace in his birthday suit had me freezing in my tracks. I moaned at the thought but figured that wouldn't be such a good thing. I knocked on the door and waited. I was about ready to knock again, when the door opened and Jace stood towering over me. The heat emanating from him had my senses drowning, and I had to fight my own answering reaction.

Jace's deep voice was a soft whisper as his lids drooped before raising once more to reveal his eyes, which were dilated with desire. "You want me." It was a statement, not a question.

I felt my face heat and lowered my gaze. I knew he wasn't referring to my wanting him sexually, but more that I wanted him to answer the door. Still, the warmth I felt was intense. On encountering his chest, I quickly raised my eyes to a spot a little higher, and the bastard had the nerve to laugh softly. I clenched my fist and went to slug him, but his hand covered mine and he brought my clenched fist to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. I felt my breath catch as my eyes widened.

The sound of a door shutting made me jump, and I stepped back just as Ram joined us. I watched as his gaze went from me, to Jace, and then back to me again. He grinned and said, "Nice look, but I'd change before you head to breakfast unless you want to explain things to Ranger."

It was then that I realized we looked like we were each wearing half of the same outfit. My eyes widened and I rushed into my bedroom and slammed the door.

I heard Jace through the door as he said, "Damn! What's with her always taking my room away?"

I heard Ram's laughter as I collected my outfit for the day and went into the bathroom to get dressed. I hurried to dress because I still didn't trust this room's safety. Five minutes later, I was opening the door to head to the dining room. I stopped in my tracks as I saw Jace there waiting for me. I let out the breath I'd been holding, and he winked at me.

We made our way to the dining room and fixed our plates before taking our seats. I was a little surprised that Jace chose to sit beside me, but I was also glad that he had. I felt safer with him there. When Bree joined us, I listened as she asked Lester to take her to Atlantic City.

Once Bree and Lester were gone, I asked, "Anyone up for checking out the house with me? After what happened last night, I don't want any more surprises."

Mary Alice lifted her head to meet my gaze. "I think that would be a good idea. Maybe we could spend the morning checking things out, and then we can get a beach volleyball game going after lunch."

I nodded and turned to Dad. Although I knew Bella, Mary Alice, and I could do what was needed, I had a feeling we might need extra sets of eyes. "Would it be okay if a couple of the guys came with us?"

Dad gave a slight nod and said, "Ram, Jace, Tank, Binkie, and Hal. I want you to go with the girls and see what you can find. Ram, you know where the surprises are, so make sure you avoid those areas."

We headed out. I placed my hand on the gun I carried with me at all times. Ram took the lead, and Tank brought up the rear. Jace took the second spot, and I was third, followed by Hal, Bella, Mary Alice, Binkie, and then Tank. We searched each of the bedroom wings and several of the other passages before deciding to check outside before lunch.

Outside, we first checked the foundation. There were several chunks where it was broken, and it was obvious that something had chipped away at it. I knelt down for a closer look. There was something familiar about the claw marks. I reached for one of the chunks, and my hand froze before I could pick it up. Before I could decide whether to try again or leave it alone, Ram grabbed me and pulled me away from the area.

I looked up at him with confusion. Ram was standing with his weapon out. I started to ask him something, but he put his finger up to his mouth and shook his head. He got us moving away from the area and heading back inside. When I saw Dad, the little girl inside me ran to him for comfort.

His arms wrapped around me and I heard him bark out, "Report!"

Ram said, "The foundation has taken a beating. It's my guess that whatever got into Julie's room last night had friends." I heard the hesitation in Ram's voice before he continued, "It might sound weird, but I think we need to heal the house before we can be safe here."

Dad gently ran his hand through my hair and leaned down to whisper, "Are you all right?"

I nodded. "I wanted a closer look at the markings. I've seen them somewhere before. I was about ready to pick up one of the chunks, but my hand froze, and then Ram pulled me away."

Dad hugged me tighter before speaking to Ram. "When Bree and Lester get back, we'll get everyone together and discuss about healing the house." He paused before asking, "What was it you saw?"

There was silence for several minutes, and then Ram said, "Distraction. The chunk Julie was trying to pick up was merely a distraction to keep our energy focused where they wanted. The real danger will come from another direction—it's coming soon."

Donella interrupted at that moment and told us lunch was ready on the sideboard in the dining room. Once we had eaten, we decided to get some exercise. Mary Alice, Bella, Binkie, Hal, Tank, Jace, Ram, and I got a game of beach volleyball going. We were in the middle of an intense game when I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach. Danger was here—but what was the target?

I stopped and scanned the area, noticing that the others were doing the same thing. I heard a terrible growling, the sound a shark makes when it uses its powerful jaws to rip apart its target. I turned to where my brother and sister had been playing, and my eyes widened in horror. I took off running, only to be brought up short by an arm around my waist. I hit out at my captor and screamed, "Let me go! I have to save them."


	8. Hobbit Acts

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 8: Hobbit Acts

**Bree's POV:**

We were about twenty minutes from the castle when Hobbit's eyes popped open and Lester swore. "What the hell?"

I turned to see what was wrong and saw Lester struggling with the wheel as the SUV started going faster than was mechanically possible. I turned to see Hobbit's eyes were singularly focused toward Lester. I was getting ready to say something when my focus deviated and I found myself watching in horror as Sky and Alex were playing with Tango on the beach while Ranger watched. Stephanie was there talking to Diesel, and there was a game of beach volleyball going on. I saw the fins slicing through the water, and suddenly, one of them veered off from the others. Instead of swimming parallel to the beach, this fin was on a collision course.

My eyes focused back on Lester and I told him, "We have to hurry. The twins are in danger."

Les took his eyes off the road as he looked at me for a split second, and then he was no longer fighting to control the vehicle. His foot pressed the gas pedal to the floor, and our speed incredibly picked up even more. I can safely say I'd never gone that fast in a vehicle before. It took us five minutes to travel the distance it normally would have taken us twenty. Lester stopped the vehicle, and before either of us could move, Hobbit was out of the vehicle and racing toward the beach. He looked a little funny as he ran, and if the situation wasn't so serious, I'd be laughing. Lester and I climbed out and ran toward the beach. As we rounded the corner, there was a sudden commotion. I heard shots being fired and Ranger barking out orders. I heard the growling and saw the humongous Great White beached, its giant mouth opening and shutting as it tried to catch Sky in its massive jaws. Hobbit raced in and drew out a sword from his belt, slashing at the beast. The sword was small, about the size of a machete, and I was wondering how much damage he could do with that against the shark. The sword connected with flesh, and before I could blink, the shark's head was separated from the rest of its body.

Stephanie had Sky wrapped in her arms, and Ranger helped them stand as he pulled Alex in close as well. They moved up on the deck, and Stephanie sat on one of the chairs and checked Sky over. Sky was oddly still, and I was afraid she might have been traumatized by the scene she'd just witnessed. I made my way to where she sat on Stephanie's lap and knelt down beside them, placing my hand on Sky's shoulder. She turned to me, shivered, and then started coughing, as if she'd had a near miss with drowning.

When Sky stopped coughing, her gaze went to Hobbit and she smiled. "I knew you would save me."

Hobbit glowed suddenly, and the smile of pure joy that graced his face was incredible, so I stood and stepped back, realizing Sky needed him right now.

I turned, feeling Diesel close by, and saw the wary look he was giving Hobbit. I moved over beside him and softly asked, "What's bothering you?"

Diesel turned to me. "Where did you find him?"

I frowned. "Sky said we'd find him in Atlantic City and he was her protector."

Diesel whipped his head to look at me, shock evident on his face. After a couple of seconds, he said, "He isn't what he seems. He's an unmentionable that was banished years ago. He liked using his powers for his own personal gain."

I studied Hobbit for several seconds and then asked, "Is it possible he's changed?"

Diesel chuckled. "His kind isn't capable of change. They are drawn to the personal gain that money brings and will do anything to acquire it."

I watched the way Hobbit interacted with Sky. Suddenly, everything became clear and I grinned. "You're wrong. Look at them. I think Hobbit has found something that's more powerful than money."

Hobbit looked almost blissful as he stood there talking to Sky. He kept her attention focused on him, and when she looked over to where the shark had come out of the water for her, there was no sign anything had ever happened. I noticed Alex was sitting on another chair with Tango wrapped in his arms. His gaze was focused on Hobbit as well.

I moved over and knelt down beside him. "What are you thinking, Alex."

Alex smiled sadly. "Sky doesn't need me anymore."

I turned to look over at Sky and noticed she seemed to be searching for something. I grinned before turning back to Alex and telling him, "You're wrong. She's searching for you even now. You share something with her no one else ever will. She will always need you—the parameters will change from time to time, but she'll always need you."

Alex's eyes widened as we both heard a voice in our minds. _Alex, where are you? I need you._

I watched as his eyes lit up. I took Tango so he could go to Sky. Sitting down on the deck, I ran my hands through Tango's fur as I watched Alex hug Sky. When Hobbit saw how Sky lit up when Alex joined them, he paused for a moment, and then he seemed to relax and his smile grew even more. It was as if Hobbit knew she needed them both and he had his own special place, as did Alex. I saw Alex's eyes meet Hobbit's, and the two seemed to come to an agreement.

Diesel sat in the chair and shook his head. "You were right. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

Tango stiffened as Diesel sat, and he was now in the process of letting out low, growling noises. He was at the ready, prepared to attack at the first sign of aggression from Diesel. Diesel's eye widened and he looked down at my little dog. Tango took exception and snapped at him.

I giggled and gently scolded, "Now, Tango. None of that. Diesel's on our side."

I felt Diesel's hand on my shoulder. "I'm glad you finally realize that."

I looked up at him. "I'm still not sure I totally trust you, but I do know you're on my side."

He smiled and I felt a warmth all over. His gaze moved and he winked. "We're going to have company. Someone isn't too thrilled with us being this close. Remember, things aren't always as they appear. Your perceptions of the past are colored by what you've been told by others. Those who told you had their own agenda. Trust the truth you hear—don't hang on to the distortions."

I frowned, puzzled. Before I could ask anything else, he was gone. I was suddenly in shadow and looked up to see that Les was blocking the sun. He held his hand out, and I placed mine in his. He pulled me up and our bodies were mere inches apart. I was thinking about stepping closer, when Lester's blank look slammed down on his face and he released my hand and took a step back. I was puzzled by his action and slightly hurt. I did the best I could to hide my emotions as I turned away. I heard a sound of frustration escape from Les but didn't bother to turn back as I walked over to where Stephanie was sitting with the twins and Hobbit.

**Stephanie's POV:**

I looked up as Bree joined us, sitting in the chair beside mine. I could tell she had other things on her mind, and it took all my willpower not to interfere. I smiled and asked instead, "Where did you find our new little hero?"

Bree grinned and replied, "Actually, Sky told me I would find him in Atlantic City. She told me to bring him back with us."

I shook my head. "Some days, I wonder if I'll ever get used to this. I feel like I'm treading water just to keep up."

Bree's gaze turned serious. "It gets harder each time."

I nodded. "For me, the hardest part last time was letting you and Julie walk into danger. This time, I have two more children to worry over." My eyes narrowed, "If I find out who was responsible for this attack today, they'll be toast when I get done with them."

We both jumped as there was a loud explosion and flames shot up in the ocean. There were howls, as if someone were in horrible physical pain.

Bree shuddered and muttered, "I think you just got your wish."

I frowned, wondering what she meant by that. She said no more on the subject though, and soon, it was time to head inside. The sun was getting low in the western sky, and I could tell by the grumblings in my stomach that it was dinnertime.

Just then, Donnella appeared with a smile on her face. "Dinner is served."

Bree and I both stood. I turned to look where the others were. They had done a good job with the cleanup on the beach. You couldn't even tell it was the scene of a near tragedy. I saw Ranger look up and turn to me. I sent him a finger wave, to which he responded with a smile. When I pointed to my watch, he raised a hand in acknowledgement. I looked down at my children and the strange little creature with them, and my heart filled with gratitude that he had saved me incredible heartbreak by rescuing my baby. Somehow, thank you didn't seem enough.

The creature I now knew as Hobbit looked up at me and said, "No thanks are needed. By saving you heartache, I have found my life."

I nodded. "You have them anyway."

Hobbit bowed.

I felt a hand on the back of my neck and looked up to see that Ranger had joined us, along with all the others. We headed inside to wash up before making our way to the dining room. Amazingly enough, there was enough room for everyone at the table, and it didn't seem any more crowded than it had been this morning for breakfast. There were in fact five extra chairs, and it was then I remembered Rodriguez was supposed to be here with Angel and the others. Right on time, the doorbell sounded.

Donnella entered the room, placed a huge platter of fried chicken before Ranger, and then said, "I'll get the door, shall I? I'll be back with the rest in two shakes of a lamb's tail."

Less than a minute later, Rodriguez walked into the dining room with Angel by his side. They were closely followed by Mooner, Sally Sweet, and Randy Briggs.

On seeing his wife, Woody was instantly on his feet and had her wrapped in his arms. I heard his whispered, "Are you all right honey?"

Angel had time only for a nod before Hector joined the group and asked, "Just couldn't stand being away from the Bozo, eh?"

Angel turned to Hector with a huge smile on her face as Woody replied to Hector's greeting. "Nah. She came to see me. You're just a side benefit."

Hector slugged Woody's arm in good humor before giving Angel a hug. They joined us at the table, and Angelina brought in the rest of the meal. She brought Angel a huge glass of milk and smiled knowingly. Woody gave Angel a puzzled look. Angel rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. She leaned in and whispered something in his ear. As he listened, you could see the joy growing on his face, and then he gave a loud shout of joy and kissed Angel very exuberantly. He looked around before saying, "We're going to have a baby!"

I felt something weird in the air, and Bree suddenly started scanning the room. She touched the necklace that was always around her neck, ever since that first battle ten years before. Her eyes closed briefly, and when she opened them, she turned to the back of the house. I wasn't the only one to notice her actions. Ranger, Micha, and Lester were watching her as well. She turned back to us and leaned into Lester to whisper something. His gaze went to the back of the house. I wondered what she had said to him and was frustrated they were on the other side of the table.

I felt Sky's small hand in mine and looked down at her. She smiled up at me before saying, "It's all right, Momma. Bree felt the house's fear. It's afraid for the baby's safety." My daughter looked up at me, and her eyes were glowing as she continued, "We need to heal the house in order for us to be safe here."

The Hobbit was sitting between Alex and Sky, and his eyes gleamed at her words. The love in his eyes when he looked at Sky gave me pause. He turned his gaze to meet mine and winked. "Don't worry. It's the good kind. She sees the good no one else is able to see. The house indeed needs to be healed."

I felt everyone's gaze on us and looked up.

Julie was frowning. "Ram said the same thing earlier, about needing to heal the house before we could be safe here."

Bobby frowned, too, asking the million dollar question, "How do you heal a house?"

Sky smiled brilliantly. "You bless it with love."

_You bless it with love._ It sounded simple, but I hadn't a clue what that meant. Before I could say anything further, Bree stood and moved around the dining room, scanning the room as she went. She turned to Sky. "Only innocence can see the true beauty beyond the surface, and only innocence can heal."

Bree held her hand out to Sky. Sky slipped off her chair and made her way over to Bree. Their hands connected and Sky glowed. The light was blinding in its brilliance, and we were forced to look away. When the light dimmed and we were able to look again, we were shocked at what was before us. There was a freshness to the house that hadn't been there before. The rooms seemed lighter as well. Bree stood there with her eyes closed, her head lifted up to the ceiling, and Sky stood beside her, wreathed in a golden rainbow of light. The look on Sky's face was radiant. There was a slithering sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, and I wanted to go and throw my arms around Sky and Bree to protect them, but I was frozen in my seat. The huge snakelike creature that entered the room screamed danger. I tried to shout out but was unable to.

Just as the creature was ready to strike, Sky turned to it and smiled. The snake froze, caught in the goodness of her light, and its body dried up and burst apart into a million pieces. When the dust cleared, all that was left was a computer chip.

Sky picked up the chip and said, "Beauty prevails. You are free of evil. Fly free."

As if suddenly freed from invisible restraints, I was able to stand. I rushed over to Sky and wrapped her in my arms. Ranger was there beside me with his arms around us both. Sky grinned at us and held out a golden computer chip. At her nod, I picked up the chip and felt the hum emanating from it. I frowned, wondering if it would be safe to put it in the computer.

Before I could voice the question, Sky said, "It's free of the bad influences and will cause no harm."

We rejoined the others at the table, and I noticed Sally sitting at the table, sobbing his eyes out. He lifted both arms in the air and said, "She has set them free, and it is fuc—uh, beautiful!"

Mooner nodded. "The baby dudette rocks!"

I saw the twinkle of amusement in Ranger's eyes, but no one else said anything as we finished eating, acting as if nothing happened. It felt a little surreal. When we were done, we all headed into the great room. I was amazed at the difference in the room. It still looked much as it had before, but it was as if the room had gotten a face lift. It looked fresh. Not only that, but there were board games, cards, videos, and an assortment of other child-friendly items. Sky ran to the games and her eyes lit up. She held up her treasure and exclaimed, "Oh, Mom! Can we play?"

I looked at her and smiled. "Of course. Let's get it set up and see who else wants to play."

For the next two hours, we sat around the table playing Monopoly. When the game ended, Sky had the green and dark blue properties with the highest rents, Alex had the reds and yellows, and Angel had the rest of the properties. They had held each other at a stalemate for the longest time. On her last turn, Sky had bought four houses for each of her properties. It was now Alex's turn, and he put four houses on his red property closest to the yellows and the two yellow properties closest to the "GO TO JAIL" corner.

I rolled the dice and groaned. I moved my piece to the spot next to "GO" and handed over what cash I had left. I was officially out of the game. Checking my watch, I kissed Sky's forehead and then Alex's and said, "Bedtime for you two. We can leave the game set up and you can finish tomorrow if you'd like."

Sky shook her head. "We need to take good care of what we've been given. Besides, it doesn't really matter who wins. It's how you play the game."

I tussled her air. After helping them put the game back in the box, I told them I would be in to check on them in a minute.

As we watched them run from the room, Angel shook her head and asked, "Do they always have that much energy?"

I laughed. "Oh no. Sometimes they have more."

Angel groaned. "What have I gotten myself in for?"

"The ride of your life, and you wouldn't miss it for the world."

Angel turned shining eyes to me. "That's exactly how I feel. I've wanted this for so long. I don't care whether it's a boy or girl—I just want a baby to love."

I grinned, "I felt the same way."

Angel laid her hand over her abdomen, her eyes shining with excitement. "I feel like I'm still dreaming."

I chuckled. "Wait until you're woken in the middle of the night because someone's hungry."

Angel giggled. "I'm looking forward to every bit of it."

I nodded. "I wouldn't have missed any of it either."

"Thank you for asking me here, Stephanie. While we were eating, I felt things changing. I know this is where I'm supposed to be right now."

I bit my lip and debated voicing my concerns. Before I could say anything, I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Ranger standing behind me, and then I noticed that Woody had made his way to Angel. I decided to keep my qualms to myself and allowed Ranger to pull me up and wrap his arms around me. Woody had his arm around Angel, and we said our goodnights. When we reached our wing, I stepped into each of the children's rooms to make sure they were covered and to kiss them goodnight. Hobbit was lying on the floor outside Sky's room.

I frowned and said, "You can't sleep here."

"I sleep near."

I smiled gently. "I have no problem with you watching over Sky. But you should be comfortable as well."

There was a look of surprise on his face, and then he smiled gently. "Ah… The daughter is much as the mother. You honor me."

Hobbit bowed and there was a whooshing sound. He pushed Sky's door open, and I watched him walk to the closet and open the door. The closet was no longer just a closet. There was a small bedroom there as well, and Hobbit settled himself on the bed and winked at me before the doors magically closed. I heard a voice in my head saying, _Don't worry, Wonder Woman. I will keep your daughter safe._


	9. Revelations

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 9: Revelations

**Stephanie's POV:**

It took me a week, but I got the information we needed. In the meantime, everyone had been bonding with the house. When we were here a decade before, I hadn't given the house much thought. This time when we arrived, it didn't seem as safe as it had the last. Watching Sky _heal_ the house had been an eye-opening experience. It might seem weird, but it actually felt like the house was alive. I was left with the impression that the house knew it was going to be called upon to give up its life in the end, and it needed to experience as much life as possible so the sacrifice it was willing to make would have a purpose.

There had been no other instances of anyone trying to get in while we were sleeping, and there seemed to be a barrier between the beach and the ocean. I felt at ease being in here doing all this research, knowing my babies were all safe. I took a look at what was on my computer and smiled. The time had come to call the others together so we could discuss our plan of action in dealing with this new threat.

I printed out what I needed, turned off the computer, and set up the folders at the conference table. The day was nearly over, and tomorrow was soon enough to talk about plans. I turned to look over the room one last time before shutting off the lights and shutting the door as I went to join my family and friends.

I made my way to the deck overlooking the ocean. As soon as I stepped outside, I closed my eyes and lifted my face to the sky, taking a deep breath. I smiled at the feelings of love that were all around. After several moments, I opened my eyes and padded over to where the others were seated. My hand landed on Ranger's shoulder to announce my arrival, although I knew he was as aware of my presence as I was of his from the moment I exited the house.

Ranger's hand came up and covered mine as it rested on his shoulder. He lifted his gaze to mine, and I heard the question in his mind. _You okay, Babe?_

I smiled as I leaned down and covered his mouth with mine. The desire was instantaneous as always, and I reluctantly released his mouth before kissing his cheek and whispering, "I found what we're looking for. The room is ready for the morning."

Ranger gave a miniscule nod before capturing my mouth once more with his and delivering a bone-melting kiss that would knock my socks off—if I were wearing socks, that is. He released me reluctantly and whispered, "Later, Babe."

I was suddenly ready for it to be bedtime. My carnal daydreams were interrupted by the sound of a dog barking and childish squeals of joy. I turned to see Alex and Sky racing along the beach with Tango. For a split second, my heart was lodged in my throat as I remembered the horror of what had happened a few days ago. I felt a gentle touch and knew the children were in safe hands, so I took a deep breath and relaxed. Just then, Hobbit rounded the corner of the house. As I watched him chasing the children, I couldn't help the laugh that escaped. His little feet were moving faster than he was running. It looked like someone picked him up while he was running; his feet were moving, but he wasn't getting anywhere. Every so often, he jumped into the air, and his feet were in continual motion. The others joined in the laughter.

When Alex, Sky, Hobbit, and Tango all came to a stop beside us, there were smiles all around.

Donella chose that moment to say, "Dinner's ready."

We made our way inside and found our seats at the dining room table. I looked around the table and was puzzled by the look of longing on Lester's face as he helped Bree into her seat. I wasn't the only one to notice, either. Both Micha and Hector were watching him, as was Ranger. Les pushed Bree closer to the table before taking his seat beside her. I bit my lip and wondered if I should say anything or if I should let the two of them work things out for themselves.

I turned to Ranger and noticed he was watching me, one eyebrow raised. I rolled my eyes and made a face at him. I knew by the sparkle in his eyes that he was enjoying our interactions every bit as much as I was. Our hands interlocked, and the moment our skin touched, I knew I was going to be a very happy camper later that night. Ranger's shoulders moved fractionally, and I knew he was laughing. Deciding to see if I could make him stop laughing, I ran my tongue around my lips, and his eyes dilated with desire. I felt the heat emanating from him, and there was an answering heat in my nether regions.

Just then, the sound of a throat being cleared was audible, and I turned to see Tank glaring at us. He nodded toward the children and, in a low tone that was barely audible, said, "Let's keep it G-rated, folks."

I heard Ranger's low chuckle as my cheeks heated.

**Lester's POV:**

I helped Bree into her chair before taking the one beside her. Feeling eyes on me, I turned to find Hector and Micha both staring at me with their blank faces on. Assholes… I could do that too. Bree moved in her chair, and I felt her arm brush against me. My body reacted instantly, and I could see by the sardonic gleam in both their eyes that Hector and Micha hadn't missed a thing. Shit! I so didn't need this shit. I had spent the past several days fighting to keep a handle on my reaction to Bree, and now I had these bozos on my case. Ever since the night she helped Sky to heal the house, feelings I'd never imagined I was capable of had started surfacing.

Of course, the fact that I had tasted her mouth not once, but twice didn't help matters. I exhaled a little more forcefully than was necessary, and Bree placed her hand on my forearm. I had to clench my jaw not to moan at the contact. Damn! I needed to find a distraction somewhere. The sudden loss of Bree's hand on my arm had me turning to her. There were tears shimmering in her eyes, and I wanted to pummel the asshole that made her cry. When she looked up into my eyes…I knew I was the asshole in need of pummeling.

I lifted her small hand in mine and caressed it with my thumb. Bree looked at me in confusion, and I couldn't help thinking, _Welcome to the club, Chula_. I winked at her and whispered, "Later."

Bree looked at me for several seconds before she pulled her hand out of mine and looked at the food on her plate. I moved my head from side to side and decided we would need to talk, and the sooner the better.

When the meal was over, I made to follow Bree. Hector stepped into my path, and I knew things weren't going to go the way I'd planned. I folded my arms across my chest and schooled my blank face into place.

Once the others had moved out of earshot, Hector demanded, "What are you playing at?"

I raised an eyebrow in response.

Hector stepped forward with a fierce glare and continued, "Bree is my family. You hurt her and you pay."

I glared back at him. "I think I've more than proven I have her best interests at heart."

We faced off for several more seconds before Hector suddenly grinned and stepped out of my way. I hadn't gotten far when Micha stepped into my path.

My eyes narrowed on him as I said, "This is getting old."

Micha gave me a mocking smile. "Maybe. But she's my sister, and you'll listen. Bree didn't grow up the way most children do. She was forced to live things that would destroy grown adults, let alone a little girl. Don't play with her emotions. If this is just an itch, find someone else to scratch it."

I was getting pissed. How could they think I would treat Bree like the women I normally picked up? My jaw clenched and I was determined not to say anything, even though the words were struggling to escape. I put my hand up to let Micha know I'd had enough and then slammed out of the house and stormed down to the beach. I clenched my hands at my sides and lifted my head to the sky. I felt the words rage inside my head as I thought, _Why now? Why her?_

After several minutes, I turned and made my way back to the house, calmer than when I'd stormed outside. Now I just needed to figure out why it felt like there was a rock sitting on my chest. I was surprised to see Stephanie there, leaning against the open door with her arms folded across her chest.

She smiled and asked, "Did you make peace with yourself?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What makes you ask that?"

Her eyes twinkled. "I saw the way you were looking at her."

I let out a frustrated breath. "You know I would never hurt her."

Stephanie let her hands fall to her sides, and she stepped closer to me, laying her hand on my arm. "I do know you would never hurt her. But what you don't understand is that she needs you. Not some young stud closer to her own age, but you. Les, Bree was four years old when her parents were murdered. She knew when Micha went to pick her up that they'd been killed. That girl has seen things that would have destroyed grown adults, and she was just a little girl. As much as Micha and I love her, we weren't able to protect her from that. We weren't able to help her shut it all out and be a child. She didn't have a childhood until she met you." Tears streamed down Stephanie's cheeks as she continued, "For those four years before she left for college, I got the chance to see her become a normal teenager, with all the fun that entails. You gave her that. I'm not sure what changed between you two, or why you made sure you weren't around when she came home each time, but I watched her try to hide the hurt inside that you didn't want to see her. That your latest lay was more important than her. She doesn't need a boy Les. She needs you. You can give her something no one else can. I'm going to leave you with a question. I want you to think about it…and be honest with yourself."

I felt the muscle moving in my jaw. I was glaring at Stephanie now as I forced myself to remain silent. Her words were opening old wounds that had been festering instead of healing. She'd ripped all the scabs off, and I was left open and raw. How could I tell her the reaction of those bozos five years ago had forced me to back out of Bree's life? I didn't want people to look at us and see a little girl and a dirty old man.

Stephanie shook her head and said, "That's not what I saw. That's not what Bree saw. None of your friends saw that either. We saw beauty—the beauty of a man giving a young girl the chance to be just like everyone else. My question for you is this. How would you feel if something took Bree from you? If you were no longer allowed to have any contact, or for that matter, even know if she was still alive?"

I dropped to my knees at the impact of her question.

Before I could say or do anything else, Stephanie nodded. "That's how Bree's been feeling the past five years. I know Hector and Micha have already talked to you. Know this. What they would do to you is nothing compared to what I will do if you hurt my baby. She's had enough to deal with in her young life, and four years of happiness was nowhere near enough." With that, she turned and walked away.

When I entered the house, I went in search of Bree. It no longer mattered what anyone else thought, said, or did. Stephanie's comments had put everything in perspective, and I was going to take back control of my life. I didn't see Bree in the great room, so I started searching. It wasn't until I reached our wing of the house that the sound of someone sobbing reached me. I quickened my step. When I reached Bree's door, the sobs were muffled but still audible. I had the feeling she knew someone was nearby and she was trying to muffle the sound. I didn't bother knocking on the door. I took the handle and opened the door, stepping in and coming to a stop beside the bed.

My chest hurt as I stood there watching her. I knelt down on one knee and placed my hand on her back. Bree stiffened. I lowered my head to lie against her, and not knowing what else to do, I spoke from the heart. "Everything was perfect until you left for college. When you came home that year for Christmas, I was so happy to see you. We spent every minute we could together. It wasn't until after I'd told you goodbye that I overheard a couple of contract workers commenting about how hot things got whenever we were together. The other one then wondered if you were that hot with an old guy, how much hotter would it be if you were with someone your own age. I wasn't even thinking about you that way. To me, you were my friend's kid sister—not someone I was lusting after. When I heard you were coming home again, I decided to put some distance between us. That's why I've been away when you came back."

She laughed harshly and said, "Right. That's why you took your latest flavor of the month on a cruise."

I frowned. "Where did you hear that?"

Bree lifted her head to look at me. "When I came back, a couple of the contract workers were talking about it. They were wondering how long the new flavor would last."

My eyes narrowed. "I didn't take her with me. She followed me. When we got back to Trenton, I gave her a piece of my mind and she left town."

Bree stilled. I could tell from the way her eyes had lost focus that she was having a vision. It seemed like it lasted forever, but was in fact only a couple of minutes. Her eyes cleared and suddenly, she was looking directly into mine. "The two men… They didn't last long at Rangeman. They were only there for the three-month rotation. Ranger didn't hire them. Do you know why?"

I frowned as I tried to remember what grievous error they had committed for Ranger not to hire them. I couldn't place what had happened to them. I knew they'd been there when I'd left on one of my trips, but when I got back they'd been nowhere to be found. I shook my head. "I don't know. We'd need to ask Ranger on that one."

Bree smiled sadly. "I've missed you."

I reached out and brushed the backs of my fingers down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Chula. I never meant to hurt you. When they said what they did, all I could think was that I couldn't let people think what they were."

Bree placed her small hand on mine and held it to her cheek. "I don't care what others say. I'm not a child." She gave a harsh laugh. "Hell, I was never a child. The closest thing to normal I had was the four years when you showed me what it was like to have fun and be a kid. In a way, I was born old—at least, that's how it seems."

I leaned in and went to kiss her cheek. She turned at the last moment, and instead of her cheek, I ended up kissing her on the mouth. She parted her lips, and just one taste and I was lost. The next thing I knew, I was lying on top of her and our mouths were fused. Nothing else mattered but Bree. The heavy pounding at the door finally registered, and I pushed myself into a standing position, looking down at Bree.

The pounding on the door was joined by Micha calling, "Are you okay, Boo?"

Bree rolled her eyes and replied, "I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

There was silence for several seconds, and then Micha said, "You have five seconds to say goodnight, Lester. I'm going to be out here waiting."

There was a loud bang, and my eyes widened as the boot Bree had thrown dropped from where it hit the door. There was a chuckle from the other side of the door, and I heard Hector's voice join Micha's. I turned to Bree, who rolled her eyes. I grinned as she shrugged before letting loose one of her beautiful smiles.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead before telling her, "I'll see you tomorrow, Chula. Sleep well."

She was smiling as she closed her eyes and I made my way from the room. When I stepped out into the hallway, Micha and Hector were standing there with their arms folded across their chests.

I grinned and decided to let them know the lay of the land. "I get it that you two want to protect Bree. She doesn't need it from me. She's a big girl now, and although I plan to respect her wishes, I also need you to know that what happens between us is personal. You need to back off."

They stared me down for several seconds before turning to each other and grinning.

Micha chuckled and said, "You just cost me fifty dollars. Hector bet me you'd tell us where to get off. I bet him you weren't ready to step up to the plate yet."

I nodded. I gave each of them a deadly look before saying, "You do know if you make another bet, I'll wipe the floor with you both. This time, it was me you were betting on. If it happens again, I'll look at it as you betting on Bree, and that won't be tolerated."

Hector grinned, but it was Micha who replied, "Noted."


	10. Passions and Emotions

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 10: Passions and Emotions

**Bree's POV:**

I heard Lester let out a deep breath and placed my hand on his arm to see if there was something I could do. I felt him tense up at my touch and took my hand away, feeling hurt that he didn't seem to want contact between us. I felt the tears shimmering in my eyes, and when he turned to me, there was no way to hide the fact that I was fighting to keep them from falling. I felt such powerful emotion emanating from Lester and looked up into his eyes, wondering what I had done to make him not want me near.

I felt Lester's hand on mine where it rested on my thigh. He used his thumb to brush over the back of my hand. I couldn't help the confused look I gave him and could almost hear the words, _Welcome to the club, Chula_. He winked and me and whispered, "Later."

I studied him for several seconds before pulling my hand away and turning so my gaze was focused on my plate. The past several days, it had felt like everything was changing, and I felt so much uncertainty. I missed my friend, and although I had tried to fight it, the pull I felt to Lester had grown over the past five years instead of diminishing. I tried to eat, but the knot in my stomach made it difficult. I tried to put on a good show until the others had finished. I caught Micha giving me glances, and there was tension rolling off Hector.

Why couldn't anything ever be simple? The happiest I had ever been was during the nearly four years before I graduated from high school and went away to college. I was finally able to do the things that other kids my age were doing. My partner in crime was always Lester. There'd been a couple of teachers that had questioned me about my association with Lester, his being a single guy and my being a teenager. I'd tried to explain, but they hadn't understood. Once I'd introduced Lester to them, though, all their reservations had disappeared. There'd never been anything sexual for him, even though I'd secretly had a crush on him.

Once I graduated, things had changed. Every time I went back and he wasn't there, it was as if someone had stolen a part of me away and refused to let me see it. I'd tried dating. Talk about disasters. None of the boys had measured up to my ideals, so I'd finally quit trying. My heart had been—and still was—crying out for something I could no longer have. I needed Lester.

I realized the others were pushing back from the table, and I stood and hurriedly made my way from the room. I knew Lester wanted to talk to me, and I was afraid he was going to tell me something I didn't want to hear. Once I hit the safety of my room, I threw myself on the bed and let the sobs take over. After a few minutes, I had the feeling someone was coming my way, so I tried to muffle my sobs by pressing my face into the pillow. Suddenly, the door opened and Lester entered the room, stopping beside my bed.

I felt his hand on my back and stiffened.

Then he started talking. I listened as he explained why he'd pulled away, but I couldn't help but scoff as I told him I knew about him taking the cruise with his flavor of the month.

Lester's eyes narrowed. "I didn't take her with me. She followed me. When we got back to Trenton, I gave her a piece of my mind and she left town."

I stilled and looked into space. I saw the two men that had seemed to follow me everywhere during that first visit when Lester wasn't there. The next time I was back, nearly three months later, it got even worse. I'd jokingly made a comment to Stephanie and Ranger, but thought nothing more about it. What I saw had me turning to Lester. Looking directly into his eyes, I asked if he knew why Ranger hadn't hired them.

Lester frowned and shook his head. "I don't know. We'd need to ask Ranger on that one."

I smiled sadly as I whispered, "I've missed you."

Lester stroked my cheek with the backs of his fingers as he apologized and explained that he couldn't let people think the way those men had.

I gripped his hand lightly and held it to my cheek. "I don't care what others say. I'm not a child." My laugh was harsh as I told him I'd never really been a child, that the closest thing I'd been to normal was the almost four years I'd spent with him.

At my admission, he leaned in. I knew what his intention was—he was aiming for my cheek—but I wanted more. I turned at the last moment, and instead of my cheek, he ended up kissing my mouth. At the feel of his mouth on mine, my lips parted and my tongue snaked out to touch his lips. I barely saw him move, but then Lester was on top of me and we were kissing like we didn't need to breathe. Nothing mattered but the feelings he was unleashing inside me. The heavy pounding on the door was an unwelcome intrusion, and I did my best to ignore it and keep Lester's attention focused on me.

Lester managed to push himself off me and stood beside the bed, looking down at me.

There was more pounding, and then Micha asked, "Are you okay, Boo?"

I rolled my eyes before answering, "I'm fine. I'll see you tomorrow."

After several minutes of silence, Micha replied, "You have five seconds to say goodnight, Lester. I'm going to be out here waiting."

My eyes narrowed and I saw one of my boots sitting just off the edge of the bed on the floor. I lifted it and threw it as hard as I could at the door. The boot hit with a bang and slid down to the ground. I heard Hector say something to Micha and knew they were amused.

Lester turned to look at me, and I rolled my eyes. He grinned and I couldn't help the smile that slipped out.

Lester leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow, Chula. Sleep well."

The smile was still on my face as my eyes closed. I felt Lester leaving and strained to pick up any noises from beyond the door. Unfortunately, their voices were too low for me to pick up anything. I quickly fell asleep, thinking of my time with Lester.

My dreams were filled with promises, and it was the first time in such a long time that I'd had a peaceful night's sleep.

**Stephanie's POV:**

Once I left Lester, I made my way to my bedroom. Carlos was there, standing at the window. I stepped up behind him and placed my hand on his back. He reached his hand behind him to take hold of my hand and then turned, pulling me closer to him. My hands went to his chest, and both his hands went to my waist. His eyes were dark with desire, and I felt an answering desire in my own body. His head lowered as mine lifted, and then his mouth was devouring mine. My hands slid up to wrap around his neck and then he lifted me and carried me toward the bed. He set me down beside the bed and slowly worked the clothes off my body, kissing every inch of exposed skin before softly blowing air over the spot he'd just kissed. When I stood before him devoid of clothing, he laid me back on the bed and followed me down. My legs widened to allow his body to be cradled to me. The friction from his fully clothed body on my naked mound had the juices flowing.

I tried pulling his shirt up to get closer to his body, but Carlos caught my wrists in his hands and gently moved my hands above my head, holding them there with one hand so they couldn't interfere with his plans. With his other hand, he slowly ran it down over my body, from my cheek, to my neck, my shoulder, and down my arm, only to come back up the arm and cup my breast, then to my ribs, my waist, hip, and thigh before making the return trip. As he repeated the path, his groin was pressing and rubbing against my exposed mound. The sensations going through my body were intense. I felt the pressure building and wanted him naked so I could fully enjoy the feel of him inside me.

His hand landed on my breast, and he ran his thumb over the nipple before squeezing my breast gently. Then, catching the nipple between his thumb and forefinger, he pinched. I wrapped my legs around his waist and arched so my doodah pressed against his groin, moaning as the friction of his clothes sent pleasure cascading through my nether regions. I whimpered and Carlos's mouth went to work on my breast. I thrust myself against him, causing even more friction, and felt the juices seeping out. As I struggled to free my hands, I moaned and begged him, "_Please_!"

Carlos thrust against me, and I nearly blacked out with the pleasure. My whole body was quivering. His pace picked up, and I was so close to flying over the edge, but then he stilled and his mouth covered mine once again, and he spent several minutes kissing me thoroughly. I tried to arch into him, but he held me still. My body was shaking, the orgasm was so close. By the time he moved from my mouth, I was breathing more normally. With his free hand, he captured my wrists to free his other hand, and then he started paying homage to the other side of my body. The friction started all over again, and in no time, I was once again a mass of quivering flesh.

Just as the last time, when I had reached fever pitch, Carlos worked at bringing me back down. My body was a mess from being so close to climax twice now and being denied. He stood and I watched as he slowly divested himself of his clothing. When he came back down on top of me, we started the horizontal tango, and this time, we didn't stop till we were both flying over the edge.

Twice more through the night, Carlos and I came together. He was an attentive lover, and the mating of our souls as well as our bodies always left me feeling as if our love transcended physical bonds. I felt him slip from bed at some point and guesses it was somewhere near four in the morning. I was vaguely aware of lips on my forehead before I was alone.

The next time I awoke, I rolled over to get away from the stream of sunlight falling on my eyes and came face to face with Sky, who looked excited. I smiled and asked, "What's up?"

Sky giggled. "Are you getting up soon? It's almost lunch time."

My eyes shot open, and I went to scramble out of bed, but seeing Alex and Hobbit enter the bedroom to join Sky, I just held the covers closer to me and said, "You guys go ahead, and I'll be there in a few minutes."

Hobbit's eyes were twinkling. "No worries. I shall endeavor to entertain the little ones. Take your time getting ready."

He winked at me, and my eyes narrowed at the knowing look on his face. I wondered how he'd like a knee to his family jewels. Suddenly, Hobbit's face turned red and he looked as if he was in pain. His hand went to his groin, and he spoke in a high soprano, "Come on, children. Let's leave your mother to get dressed."

Sky frowned at Hobbit. "What's wrong Hobby? You look like you're hurt."

"I'm fine…just fine. Just don't piss your mother off, kid. She's lethal."

With that, they were racing out of the room. Alex turned before leaving and grinned. "Guess you showed him not to mess with you."

My eyes widened and I asked, "What do you mean?"

Alex shook his head. "Your thoughts are stronger than you think they are."

I had a sudden flash of insight and knew what he was telling me.

Alex laughed as he lifted his hand and said, "Don't worry, Mom. I'll save you some Boston Creams."

Alex shut the door, and I was out of bed and racing to the shower. I doubted we would have Boston Creams for lunch, but I was taking no chances of them being gone before I got there.

Ten minutes later, after the fastest shower in history—at least in relation to me—I was on my way toward the dining room. The others were just sitting down as I made my way over beside Ranger.

His eyes twinkled as I stopped beside him and he asked, "You finally decide to wake up, Babe?"

I made a face at him and asked, "Why didn't you wake me before you left?"

He leaned down, and the low tone of his voice sent heat racing to my doodah. "I tried, Babe. You told me if I didn't let you sleep, you would use my own gun on me."

My eyes widened. I studied Ranger's face and knew he wasn't teasing. I had to admit that after the third time we'd come together, I'd been extremely tired. I smiled weakly.

He leaned down and kissed my mouth before whispering, "Don't worry, Babe. We can continue tonight."

"What about the meeting that was planned for this morning?"

Ranger winked. "It got rescheduled till after lunch."

I shook my head. "I don't know why someone didn't just wake me up."

Ranger chuckled. "When I told the guys I was letting you sleep in because you were tired, Bobby asked how tired. I mentioned how you were when he gave you Prednisone, and he declared you off limits for anyone wanting all their male parts in working order."

I felt my cheeks heat and groaned. "Aren't you guys going to ever let me forget that?"

I felt Ranger's hand on the back of my neck. He smiled his two hundred watt smile as he said, "Not likely. That knee is lethal."

I rolled my eyes and tilted my face up to his. He leaned down and kissed me again before helping me into my seat and then taking his own place at the head of the table.

Donella brought in the first platter, and I moaned as I saw the tray of doughnuts. Donella winked at me and made sure I got first pick. I bit into the Boston Cream and moaned at the delicious confection. I had devoured the whole thing by the time the second tray of food made its way to the table. My eyes widened as I saw the meatball subs. Today was proving to be a wonderful day. I'd been the recipient of three Ranger orgasms through the night, I'd been allowed to sleep in, and now I was being treated to my favorite foods.

After three pieces of Pineapple Upside Down Cake, I pushed back from the table and groaned. I was going to have to unfasten my jeans before I sat back down in the conference room.

As if he were waiting for that exact moment, Ranger motioned with his head, and the guys all stood and headed toward the conference room. I frowned, glancing at the twins.

Angel smiled and said, "I'll keep an eye on them."

Sally vigorously shook his head up and down, saying, "They'll be safe with us. Ain't nobody going to fuc—uh, mess with them while we're on the ball."

I heard Julie's giggle. If we hadn't needed her at the meeting, I knew she would have kept an eye out for the twins. I was debating what to do, when Hobbit bowed in front of me and said, "I am here. On my life, they will be safe."

For some reason, even though I had only known Hobbit for a few days, I trusted him to protect my babies. I nodded. "All right. I'm going to leave Angel with you as well."

Hobbit grinned. "Yes. The new babe must be protected as well."

Ranger and I headed to the conference room. Once I was seated, I opened the folder in front of me, and my eyes widened at the sight that met my eyes. I looked up at Ranger, shocked. His eyes narrowed on me, and I leaned in to whisper, "This first page wasn't here when I set them on the table."

He opened his folder to study the picture. Bree's intake of breath was loud in the room, followed by Lester swearing.


	11. Seeing Into The Enemy

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 11: Seeing Into The Enemy

**Bree's POV:**

When I opened the file in front of me on the table, I couldn't help the gasp that escaped. I hadn't even had a chance to talk to Stephanie about this guy, so how could she have a picture and all his background information already? I heard Lester start swearing and knew he'd just seen the photo as well. As I looked up, my gaze went to Stephanie. I could sense the confusion she was feeling, and suddenly, the room receded and I was seeing another scene altogether.

It was dark in the cavern as I zeroed in on the hum of conversation coming from deep inside. I peeked around a corner, and the view before me was out of some horror scene. There were perhaps twenty to thirty men wearing hooded black robes that partially covered their faces. On the front of the robes, there was a peculiar design that looked disturbingly familiar. It resembled a claw mark, but it was shaped oddly. I stared at the design for several minutes, trying to figure out why it looked so familiar. I was missing something, but at the moment, I had no clue what that might be.

My gaze moved to the rest of the room. Although it was nearly as dark as the passageways one would have to traverse in order to get here, the torches on the walls afforded a small measure of light. The place was dank and musty, and there was an unusual chill in the air, bordering on iciness.

In the darkest part of the room, one of the hooded figures knelt beside a nest of some kind. There was an odd gentleness as he stroked whatever was in the nest. Another figure stopped beside him, and I moved closer to try to hear better.

The one standing said, "Nosh has failed me. I need a replacement."

The individual kneeling beside the nest looked up, and there was a masked animosity to his manner as he replied, "I have none that are ready for what you wanted Nosh for. The young ones here are not ready for what you put Nosh through."

There was a dangerously low hissing sound as the other one replied, "I didn't _ask_ you if they were ready. I _told_ you I need a replacement. Nosh failed. Hopefully the next one can be made sturdier."

I could see the frustration on the one on the ground as he struggled within himself for several seconds before he finally nodded and held up the largest of the ones in the nest. The one standing accepted the long, snakelike body, and then suddenly, he whipped around and looked directly at me—or so it seemed. His face turned cruel, and there was an excited air about him as he nodded and said in his animalistic voice, "_Yes_, I see you. What's more… I know your deepest fears. Soon, I will come for each of you in turn." He threw back his head and laughed.

I screamed.

**Lester's POV:**

When I opened the file and saw the face in the top picture, I started swearing. It was the man from the Ferris wheel in Atlantic City. I wasn't aware Bree'd had time to talk to Stephanie about him, though. I continued looking through the file, wondering what other surprises were in store for us. I listened to the rest of the guys talking as they dissected the level of threat each of the men in the photos held. I felt power emanating from the talisman I'd been wearing around my neck ever since I found it in the taxi cab in South Dakota. My skin felt warm and I felt a sense of urgency I couldn't explain. Suddenly, Bree screamed from beside me, and I went into warrior mode. My gun was out and I was searching the room for a threat. When I saw no evidence that we had been joined by an enemy in the physical sense, I re-holstered my weapon and placed my hand on Bree's arm. I knew by the unfocused way her eyes were that she was locked in a vision. I looked at Bobby, hoping he would know what to do, but he looked just as confused as everyone else.

Acting on instinct alone, I left Bree in the chair where she was sitting and took both her hands in mine. My eyes closed momentarily, and when I opened them again, I was in a dark cavern of some kind. I felt the clamminess emanating from the walls, and there was a strong, moldy smell that nearly had me gagging. I saw her seated on the ground with her arms wrapped around her drawn-up knees. She was shaking and tears streaked down her cheeks.

I knelt in front of her, took her in my arms, and gently asked, "What's wrong, Chula?"

There was fear in her eyes as she looked up at me, and in a voice little more than a whisper, she answered, "He knew I was there. He turned and looked right at me. He said he knows what all our deepest fears are and he's coming for each of us in turn. He's evil, Les."

"Do you know who he is?"

I watched her eyes turn cloudy for a moment, and when they cleared, she looked at me and said, "He's called Dreamstalker."

I took hold of her hand. "Come with me, Chula. We need to let the others know."

I felt her stand beside me, and it was almost as if she were a part of me…only, not totally. There was a barrier preventing us from totally merging. I opened my eyes and looked at Bree. She squeezed my hand as her eyes fluttered open.

She looked lost, so I pulled her from the chair and wrapped her in my arms before turning us so I was now sitting in the chair with her in my lap.

Our silent musings were interrupted as Stephanie asked, "What happened, Bree?"

Bree told the others what she had just told me, about the cavern and the group gathered there. When she was done, Stephanie lifted the offending photo that had started everything and said, "I didn't place this in the file."

As I looked around at the others, I saw the same thing mirrored in their expressions that I was thinking. Shit! We didn't need someone trying to use our own fears against us, especially now. When I found out just who the culprit was, I planned on sending a little message of my own. As we went over the rest of the file and got down to the business of forming a plan, I sensed the others' unease. Before Ranger dismissed everyone, he made sure there was someone on each of the ladies, as well as the children.

Stephanie stopped beside us. "What didn't you tell us?"

Bree told her how I'd found her, and that when she'd tried to get back to us, it was a huge maze and she couldn't find us. She wasn't able to feel us either, which for her was far worse.

Stephanie hugged her and whispered something in her ear I wasn't able to hear. Once she moved away, I let Bree slip from my lap and stood to join her. I held out my hand, and after she placed her smaller hand inside mine, we headed outside for some much-needed air. I was left with the feeling that I'd almost lost her, and I didn't like the feeling at all. My eyes narrowed as I considered ways to insure her safety.

**Sky's POV:**

Once the grownups left the room, Angel put a video of _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_ in the DVD player and we all settled down to watch it. We were at the part where they were playing Wizard's Chess and Ron had just told Harry that he was the one that needed to go on. I heard a small scratching sound and looked around at the others. They seemed enthralled by the movie, so I moved carefully so as not to disturb them. I made my way to the deck area and followed the sounds of scratching that were now getting louder. I made my way down the steps and crawled under the deck. I hadn't gotten very far when I found what it was that was making the noise.

I reached out to take hold of the small snakelike animal. The minute I held it in my hands, I felt its pain. A tear slid down my cheek, and I hugged it to me as I crawled back out from under the deck. I headed back inside and stopped in the doorway of the den as I heard Mom's voice.

"Where's Sky?"

I smiled. "Right here. I found something under the deck."

It felt like everyone's eyes were on me.

Bree was the first one to speak. "That's the creature I saw. It was given to who I believe is the leader."

Dad moved over beside me and frowned as he knelt down. He asked, "Where did you find this, Sky?"

My eyes widened. I had a feeling they weren't seeing the same thing I was when I looked at this baby creature. I bit my lip, worried for the first time that Mom and Dad wouldn't let me keep him. I whispered, "Under the deck, like I said. He looks like he's been hurt."

I saw the muscle jump in Dad's jaw, and he seemed to be concentrating on the baby in my hands. He was getting ready to say something, and my chest hurt. I just knew he was going to tell me it would need to be destroyed. I felt a tear slip down my cheek as I looked down at the snakelike creature in my arms. I looked up at Dad and pleaded, "I'll take really good care of him, and I just know he'll be really good. Please let me keep him, Daddy. There's so much good inside him."

Dad looked down at what I was holding and then turned to look at Bree. "Is this the one you saw?"

Bree stepped closer, and Lester was practically plastered to her side. She knelt down beside us, and the little creature in my arms made a sound like it was trying to talk to her. I saw her eye lose focus for several seconds, and when they cleared, she smiled and looked at Dad. "This is the one that wasn't chosen. It's been hurt, though. As part of a test for the other one, it was told to attack its brother. The keeper let it loose, hoping it would elude the fate of the other two. This one has not been trained to harm."

Dad's eyes narrowed on the baby in my arms. "What are the chances that it might hurt her?"

Bree shook her head. "It's weird, but I feel nothing malevolent about it."

Daddy placed his hand on my shoulder. "All right, Sky. You can keep it. But we'll need to take precautions."

I smiled and the creature in my arms started to hum. I made my way over and sat down between Hobbit and Alex. The baby in my arms looked first at Alex and then to Hobbit before looking up at me and snuggling close. I had the feeling that it had accepted its place and acknowledged my brother's and friend's places as well.

**Ranger's POV:**

I had my reservations about allowing Sky to keep the creature. My mind was saying get rid of it, but seeing the tear falling down her cheek, my heart couldn't deny her. I knew if it was in my power, I would see to it that she got her wish to keep the damn thing. When Bree made the comment about feeling nothing malicious stemming from it, I knew I would allow Sky to keep it, even if it meant putting an extra man on watching over her.

I felt the effect of her smile and watched as she carried the thing in her arms over to take a seat between Alex and the funny little guy named Hobbit. I made eye contact with Rodriguez and knew by the tilting of his head that he was already making sure my daughter would be totally protected.

We'd spent the better part of the afternoon going over the file Stephanie had prepared for us. We'd dissected each and every man in that file. We knew that three of the men in the file were dead—or were they? My eyes narrowed as the memory of Orin hit me. Was it possible? I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Hobbit studying me. Our eyes connected and I saw an answering agreement in his.

That brought me to another point. Just how did Hobbit fit in? I knew he had saved Sky from the shark on the beach, but what if that was just a way to get in good with us so he could betray us later? I caught the way one of his eyebrows rose in a sardonic expression. He may not have appreciated what I was thinking, but this was my child we were talking about, and her safety was uppermost in my mind.

I felt Stephanie's hand on my back and looked down at her. I could see the worry in her eyes and wrapped my arm around her waist, leaning down to whisper, "Don't worry, Babe. Rodriguez will keep an eye on her. She'll be as safe as we can make her."

She nodded. "I know. I can't help but worry, though."

Marry Alice stopped beside us, shaking her head. "How does she do it?"

We both looked at her, puzzled. Steph asked, "What do you mean, Mary Alice?"

"Well, look at it. That is the ugliest thing I've ever seen on the outside. But do you see how it glows and hums when she's holding it? It's like it's wrapping her in love. She sees the good where others only see what's on the surface."

Steph smiled. "Bree's said the same thing. I can't help but worry about her, though."

Mary Alice grinned. "You come by it naturally. You can't help but worry about your children with Mom and Grandma Plum in your gene pool. Throw in Grandma Mazur, and you're in real trouble, because not only will you worry, but you'll bust a cap on someone if they mess with your family."

I bit my cheek to keep from smiling. Lucky thing too, because Steph sent Mary Alice her famous 'Burg girl glare before looking up at me to see if I was smiling. I raised an eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes at me and gently elbowed me in the stomach. I chuckled at the playful mood she was now in. I wrapped my arms around her as she joined in laughing too.

I leaned down and kissed her for several seconds before pulling back and telling her, "I need to make a phone call. I'll meet you at the dinner table, Babe."

She leaned up and kissed me quickly once, and then again, before she replied, "Okay. I'll save you a seat."

I winked before leaving her with Mary Alice while I stepped outside to make my call. I walked a short distance from the house before pulling my phone out of my pocket. I pressed in the number I wanted and waited for it to be answered.

After several seconds, I heard, "Is Bella okay?"

"She's fine. I need a favor."

"Name it."

"I want you to pull everything you can on the last three stalkers Stephanie had."

There was a pregnant pause before he asked, "Are you thinking somebody may not be as dead as they want us to think?"

My eyes narrowed as I sensed something in his question. "You know something?"

There was a frustrated sigh. "Maybe. I was at Pino's last night with Mare, and we overheard a conversation. Questions were being asked."

"Did they get their answers?"

"Some. Once it became obvious who they were trying to get information on, everyone clammed up. but I'm not sure it was in time."

"Keeps your ears open. You might want to check on their connections first."

"Will do. You want me to filter the information through Rangeman, or you want it direct?"

"Direct."

"Stay safe, Ranger. Watch out for my baby."

"We'll protect her."

With that, I disconnected. I replaced my phone in my belt and headed back in. When I stepped inside the house, I headed for the dining room and took my place at the head of the table. I had a feeling things were going to start heating up, and we needed to be ready. I hoped Morelli could get me the information I needed. I could have had one of my men look into it, but it would have sent up too many red flags. I didn't want to show my hand too soon and have them go to ground.

Stephanie placed her hand on my forearm as I sat down, and I sent her a reassuring wink. I didn't want to worry her any sooner than I had to. She'd already had one run-in with this person, I didn't want her to worry needlessly. If the time came when I had more than a gut feeling about this, I'd tell her. Until then, we were working on a need-to-know basis, and at the moment, I was the only one that needed to know.


	12. Joining

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 12: Joining

**Bree's POV:**

I stood at the deck railing looking out over the ocean as the breeze washed over me. Feeling Lester's presence beside me, there was a hum of electricity coming off him as I closed my eyes and lifted my head to the sky. The feeling that if Lester hadn't found me, I might not have made it back was a strong one. For some inexplicable reason, the feeling I had was that the coming battle would be fought within us as much as physically. The leader—if that's truly what he was—claimed to know our deepest fears. I had a strong feeling those terrors were going to be used against us. We needed to find a way to combat that. And if the increased sense of danger I felt was any indication, we'd need to hurry.

I opened my eyes and turned to look at Lester as his hand came to rest on my waist. My breathing picked up as the look in his eyes gave me a warm feeling all over. I felt excitement bustle through me as he lowered his head marginally. Just when I thought his mouth might join mine, there was a noise from behind us and he stiffened before straightening back up. I let out a frustrated sigh and turned to see Micha and Hector joining us on the deck. Rolling my eyes, I let out the frustrated sigh at being interrupted.

At the sound of Micha's low chuckle I glared at him, which only made his smile widen. Stopping beside me, he kissed my forehead. "Hector and I are heading to Atlantic City. We're going to take a closer look around and see if we can find out more than what we already know."

I bit my lip as I nodded. "Be careful."

He winked at me and replied, "Hector and I'll have each other's backs, Boo."

Resting my hand on his forearm, I said, "I know you will." After a moment's hesitation, I continued, "I can't explain it yet, but I have a feeling whoever is behind this plans to use our own fears against us."

All three men stilled and looked at each other before turning back to me.

It was Lester who broke the silence. "I had a feeling we could've lost you if I hadn't found you. Wherever you were, it felt real."

I met his gaze and replied, "Yes. That's the same way I felt."

Hector let out a curse in Spanish and then asked, "So what are you suggesting?"

I looked out at the ocean for several seconds before turning back to the guys. "I think we should work in groups. If Lester doesn't mind, we could go with you to Atlantic City and the four of us could look together. We could cover more ground that way."

All three guys hesitated. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know why Micha and Hector were undecided. I could hear them debating back and forth how to get me to stay here where it was safe. I couldn't read Lester's thoughts though, so I had no clue what the dark look he was sporting hid until he finally spoke up.

"I think she should come with us."

The look on their faces as they gaped at Lester almost made me laugh, like they thought he was crazy.

Les held up a hand. "Before you go there, Bree has abilities the rest of us don't. I don't want her in danger any more than you do. But I don't think she'll be safer here without me. What if she has another vision and no one is around to see she's in trouble? For some reason, I feel like the only place she'll be safe is with me."

They studied us both for several seconds before reluctantly agreeing. It was Hector who said, "Then you'd best do an outstanding job of keeping her safe."

Les let loose with one of his more potent smiles and replied, "No worries, man. I'll keep her attached to my hip."

I nudged him with my elbow and suggested, "It's getting late. Dinner'll be ready in a few minutes. What do you say we plan on getting an early start in the morning?"

The guys all nodded their heads in agreement.

Just then, Alex opened the sliding glass doors leading into the great room and called, "Dinner's ready."

We headed inside.

Alex had an odd look on his face when I reached where he was standing. I tilted my head, giving him a puzzled look as I wondered what he was thinking. His eyes met mine, and there was intenseness to them as he spoke. "You'll need to distract them from your real mission." His eyes went to each of us in turn before he added, "A wedding might divert their attention so they don't realize the real reason you are there."

We looked at each other, and I could see the wheels turning. Micha looked at Hector and their eyes heated. I glanced at Les and caught the twinkle in his eyes. On my way past Alex, I sent him a wink and he gave me an answering grin. We enjoyed the wonderful meal Donella made for us and read the others into our plans for the next day.

Stephanie's eyes widened as we discussed our reasons for going. She added, "This needs to be bigger."

Ranger raised an eyebrow as he studied her. "Explain, Babe."

"If there's going to be a wedding, then that would explain their presence. But if the plan is to search the area, we need to make it look more like a fun day turned into an impromptu wedding." She looked around at the blank looks on all the guys' faces, rolling her eyes before continuing. "It's really simple. Pay attention here. We get a large group together and hit the boardwalk. We split up into twos, except Ranger and I will stick with the twins and I'd like Tank, Cal, and Ram in our group. The other groups will be Mary Alice and Binkie, Bella and Hal, Jace and Julie, Bree and Lester, and Micha and Hector. Diesel, Woody, Angel, Milo, and Bobby will remain at the house with Hobbit and Sky's new little friend."

Hobbit looked upset at being left behind until Sky placed her hand on his arm and said, "I need you to watch over Pen while I'm gone. I couldn't trust him to anyone else."

Hobbit seemed to puff up before nodding and turning to Tank. "You will keep the little one safe."

Tank nodded. "I'll protect her with my life."

"Hobbit accepts."

Milo was frowning and, after looking circumspectly around the table, braved asking, "Why so many?"

Before Stephanie could reply, Alex spoke up. "We'd be creating distractions. By dividing into so many groups, it looks like we're just there for a day of fun. Then in the excitement of the day, someone decides to get married, which will allow us to check areas we would otherwise miss."

Milo didn't look impressed. I believed it had more to do with him wanting to be part of the group going than anything else. I got a picture of cotton candy and smiled.

My eyes twinkled as I told him, "For being a good sport and staying here with the others, how about if I bring you back a bag of cotton candy?"

Milo blushed as he muttered, "I guess I'll have to settle for that."

I tilted my head slightly as the vision played out. The little boy was begging a too harsh caregiver for a taste of her cotton candy. She gave him a look of disgust as she shooed him away. I felt eyes on me as the vision cleared and I was once more in the room with the others. Ranger was watching me. I lifted an eyebrow in question, but he shook his head as the words, _Not this time, p_opped into my mind. I lifted my head in acknowledgement, and in no time, we were saying our good nights.

As Lester walked me to my bedroom door, I was reluctant to let him go. We stood at the doorway, and he cupped my jaw in the palm of his hand. I felt the heat pooling in my nether regions as he brushed up and down with his thumb. I met his gaze, and all the longing I felt was bared for him to see. His lids drooped over the fire in his eyes, and the next thing I knew, I was airborne. His mouth covered mine, and that was my last coherent thought till I was lying on my bed with Lester above me.

As he lay against me, I pulled my legs up to cradle his body and wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips moved to my neck, and I arched to give him better access. Finding where his shirt was tucked into his pants, I started tugging. As if he knew what I was after, Les sat back on his haunches and lifted the offending garment over his head, tossing it onto the floor before lowering himself back into my embrace. His mouth returned to mine as his hands kneaded and caressed my breasts as he worked on removing my top and bra.

His mouth had just moved down to my breast when there was a knock on the door. We stilled and I prayed whoever was there would go away. When the doorknob turned, I couldn't believe my eyes. _Damnit_! If that was Micha or Hector, I was going to let them have it. There was just enough time for us to cover ourselves and move into seated positions before the door opened and Diesel walked in.

There was a smug, knowing smile on his face as he stopped before us. "Believe me, I'd love nothing more than to let you two continue. However, I'm being guilted into making you aware of something important."

Giving him an eye roll, I asked, "And just what would that be?"

A grin slowly took over one side of his face. "Do you remember what you told Stephanie ten years ago after she and Ranger got together? About the perfect time for a baby to be made?"

My eyes widened. "It's the wrong time for me."

Diesel shook his head. "If the two of you get together, epic things will happen. That's all we know. I wanted to let you find out on your own. I was overruled—something about the two of you needing to make a conscious decision."

I studied him for several minutes before nodding with my head toward the door. "We've been warned."

With a haughty salute, he turned and left us alone once more.

I turned to Lester, wondering if what Diesel had said put paid to our activities of the night. Lester's eyes were just as dark with desire, and I waited for him to make the first move. I was in this no matter what, but I needed to know he was just as invested in this too.

**Diesel's POV:**

Making my way onto the deck, I walked over and leaned against the railing as I let my gaze go out to sea. The breeze started to pick up, which caused me to smile. There was a mild shaking of the ground and the waves grew choppier. An odd glow was reflected onto the ocean, and from the angle, I knew it originated from a particular part of the castle behind me. The scene grew stormier as I watched, as if man, woman, and nature had become one and were now moving in sync as they reached the crescendo of the final act. There was a cry of rapture, and the joy that was palpable in the air brought tears to my eyes. At that precise moment, there was an inhuman roar of rage and a giant tail came out of the water, only to crash back down again. I smiled. The deed was done and there was no going back now.

"Thank you, Diesel."

Without turning, I gave a slight nod before replying, "I was honored, Angelina."

"You'll keep her safe until I can get here?"

"I'll keep her safe."

"Ranger has two men outside my door. I imagine they'll be the ones to bring me."

I swallowed hard, making sure I had a handle on my emotions. "Yes. Bones and Erik will bring you here. Are you finally going to tell her who you are?"

There was a pause. "The time is right. I'll tell her."

I didn't need to turn to know she was no longer with me. My heart hurt for what couldn't be. I closed my eyes to capture the last of her essence before turning and making my way inside.

As I walked inside the house, I was mildly surprised to see a large group in the great room. My eyes widened as what they were saying registered. I couldn't help the smile that took over my face.

**Julie's POV:**

I felt a buzz of excitement when Stephanie named me as part of the group going to Atlantic City tomorrow, even more so when she suggested Jace and I as a team. I knew Mary Alice and Bella would be equally thrilled because they'd been paired with the guys they had crushes on. We'd spent a lot of time talking about guys over the past four years, and they'd been goners from the minute they were fourteen and took notice of Binkie and Hal.

I stripped out of my clothes and into one of the satin camisole top and short sets that was my usual bedtime attire. This one was in a lime green. I went through my nightly ritual, ending with brushing my hair, before crawling into bed. I wasn't really tired, but I knew we'd have a long day ahead of us and I wanted to be fresh. Deciding to run through some relaxation techniques to wind down enough to sleep, I turned out my light.

Twenty minutes later, I was close to my desired goal, when I felt the house humming as it shook. My eyes widened as I debated whether we were actually having an earthquake or if there was some other explanation for what I was experiencing. When inhuman roars joined in the party, I jumped out of bed and ran from the room, snagging my robe on the way. I slipped into it on the run, not sure whether to wake one of the guys or just get to the great room. I'd just cleared my door and was near the last bedroom when the three guys joined me, guns in their hands.

Without thinking, I made a beeline for Jace, and it wasn't until I was wrapped in his arms that I felt safe. The four of us made our way to the great room, where the others were gathering as well. Seemed we'd all been woken by the same thing. The last ones joining the group were Mooner and Sally, who had funny little smiles on their faces, and Randy, who was scowling.

Stephanie was fighting a laugh as she watched the three, and I had to admit, they looked pretty funny. Sally was dressed in a hot pink, lady's negligee and his hair was rolled up in curlers. His size eleven feet were crammed into size nine bunny slippers, and he looked like Sasquatch in drag. Mooner was wearing a monk's robe and giggling about the fun that was in store now that the joining had occurred.

Randy was wearing a pair of _Cars_ pajamas, still looked like he was half asleep, wishing he were still in bed. His hair was standing straight up and there were dark circles under his eyes. He glared at Stephanie as he groused, "Last night it was the Dynamic Duo, and now tonight it's the Earth Shakers. Is that all you people think about?"

There was a sound from the doorway, and I turned to see Diesel standing there with an amused smile on his face. He winked at me and my eyes widened as I distinctly heard, _You're next_.

I felt Jace's chest shaking and looked up at him. There was a knowing twinkle in his eyes and he leaned in to whisper, "Looks like someone was doing the horizontal tango, and that's what's behind whatever's happening."

I quickly glanced around the room to see who was missing. I wasn't the only one, judging by the facial expressions on Micha, Hector, and Stephanie. Although Steph was smiling, the other two had hard expressions on their faces that didn't bode well for Lester. They made a move in the direction of their wing, but Stephanie's voice stopped them.

"No! She's a grown adult and you need to treat her as such. Let them deal with whatever is between them."

Micha and Hector exchanged glances and reluctantly stayed where they were.

Steph looked around at the rest of us before adding, "We have a long day ahead of us. Why don't we head back to bed?"

I stayed where I was beside Jace for several minutes, watching the others leave the room. When it was just the two of us left, Jace placed his hand on the back of my neck and said, "Come on, love. Time for bed."


	13. Finding Clues

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 13: Finding Clues

**Hal's POV:**

How could Stephanie _do_ this to me? Last night before we'd headed to bed, she made plans for a large group of us to head to Atlantic City to search for clues about the people we were going to be up against in the battle that was coming this time. That wasn't the part that was bothering me, though. In her infinite wisdom, Stephanie had also decided that I would be paired with Bella. She was just eighteen and the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. At five feet ten inches tall, she had flawless olive tone skin, a slender yet voluptuous build, hair a lighter shade of chocolate brown that framed her beautiful heart-shaped face, and her eyes—it was like looking into an inferno—they were brown around the edges, and from the pupil to where the rim of brown lay, it seemed as if flames were shooting outward with shades of red and yellow taking over the space. Bella was an eighteen-year-old spitfire that took more after Stephanie than her own parents, Joe and Mary Lou Morelli. And the worst thing, the minute I got within two feet of her, my tongue decided to do a pretzel imitation.

Bella called out to me in a way that no other female had ever managed. It was the determination in her to fight through any situation. She put on a brave face, but I saw the scared little girl that lived beneath the surface. I wanted so much to help her get past the terrors that plagued her.

I made sure I was up thirty minutes early and fully dressed in my Rangeman SWAT gear, as Stephanie had jokingly called it once. The name stuck. I made sure each gun was loaded as I put it in place and then checked the sharpness of the three knives I added to my armament. I did a quick run through and was satisfied that I had everything I needed, then turned and left my bedroom to grab a bite of breakfast before we got underway.

When I reached the dining room, I noticed a few of the others were already there. Bobby, Tank, Ram, and Cal were seated at the table eating. I filled my own plate and then took a seat beside Ram. Keeping my head down, I dug in, listening to the low hum of conversation around me. I felt the change in the air as Bella stepped into the room, even though I was facing the opposite direction. When she sat down beside me, I sent up a silent prayer that I had just swallowed my last bite of food. As nervous as I got around her, I was afraid I would choke on it if I tried to eat with her near. It wasn't long before the others joined us. Within twenty minutes, everyone was ready to leave.

We split up into vehicles. Ranger, Stephanie, Alex, and Sky rode in the Cayenne. The second SUV carried Tank, Mary Alice, and Binkie. Up next were Julie, Jace, and Ram. The next vehicle included Bella, Cal, and myself. In the final vehicle were Hector, Micha, Bree, and Lester.

The drive was quiet, but nice. I liked the fact that Bella didn't feel the need for constant chatter, which made it easier to concentrate on my driving. The closer we got to Atlantic City, the more unrested I became. It was as if something—or someone—was attempting to stop us from reaching our goal. I glanced over at Cal and saw the muscle jumping in his jaw. I couldn't help but wonder what he was hearing.

On reaching Atlantic City, Ranger led our merry little caravan to one of the lots near the boardwalk. When we climbed out, we huddled together momentarily. Ranger appointed each group a section to search, and then we were to meet at four p.m. in the chapel. I knew there was a marriage license floating around. I wasn't sure how that came about, since we'd only found out we were doing this yesterday and there was a three-day waiting period in New Jersey. I had no doubt our boss had pulled off the impossible.

Ranger said, "Dismissed."

I turned to Bella and felt my cheeks heat as I looked into her eager face. Although my mouth wouldn't work, in my mind, I was asking, _Are you ready?_

Bella smiled. My heart jumped as I got a look at her dimples. She placed her hand around my arm and I heard her thinking, _I think so. We have the fun area to check out._

My eyes widened as I wondered, _Why do you say that?_

Her eyes were lit with excitement as she thought, _One of the spots in our section is rumored to have a Civil War ghost._

I was mildly surprised, _I didn't know you were into the Civil War._

She nodded. _One of my areas of study happens to be War and Conflict. I'm interested in the Civil War as well as Africa._

_I have several books on the subjects if you'd like to read them sometime, _I thought, eager to share with her a common interest.

"I'd love to! Maybe we could discuss them over dinner sometime."

When I heard the sound of her voice, I was momentarily startled, but I realized we'd been having a conversation all this time and I hadn't felt tongue tied at all.

I grinned at her, thinking, _I'd like that very much._ Aloud, I said, "Why don't we talk about that when this is all over?"

The look of joy on her face gave me a moment's pause. She was so young… Maybe I was making a mistake by forming a friendship, but I couldn't deny myself the chance to be close to her.

We continued on with the task of checking over our allotted section of the boardwalk. I felt Bella's hand in the crook of my elbow as we walked. I was suddenly picking up all kinds of feedback from the people around us. There was a young woman about Bella's age relieving the terror of her nightly visits from the monster. An old man was rocking back and forth, reliving the loss of various people in his life. And then there was the young man whose eyes were darting around… His fear was more palpable than the others, and thoughts of what they would do to him when they found out he'd released the other one were uppermost in his mind. I knew we needed to make contact with the young man. I glanced at Bella, and at her nod, I knew she was on the same page.

As we moved within a few steps of the young man, the fear in his eyes made me stop and think for a moment. The terror was stronger than I'd experienced to date. His eyes met mine and I could hear his thoughts running in diverse directions. Before I could say anything, he took off and Bella and I were in hot pursuit. It wasn't hard to keep him in sight. It was as if he were putting on a show of trying to get away, without really trying to escape. After several minutes, we ended up in a dark back corner of an abandoned building, and the man turned to confront us.

His voice was low and he had a look of desperation on his face. "Pen is the salvation of us all. He must be protected from Dreamstalker at all costs."

A ball of fire came out of nowhere and the young man was engulfed in flames. I pulled Bella protectively to me and got us the hell out of Dodge. I felt danger following as we traversed the maze to get back outside as more fireballs were lobbed in our direction. The door was in sight to the outside world, when flames shot up in front of us. I felt electricity emanating from Bella, and then rain poured down over the flames in our path. I was able to pick out a path of escape through the haze from the smoke billowing everywhere.

I didn't stop until I had us a good distance from the building. Bella and I leaned back against an old church. Oddly enough, I felt a protective wall go up around us, and when the three men in black hoodies ran past us, I had a choice view as they stopped a few feet farther on and looked around. They removed the hoods from their heads, and my eyes widened as I got a good look at their faces.

**Binkie's POV:**

We spent an hour walking through our section of the boardwalk, searching for clues to help out in our coming battle with forces unknown. When Stephanie suggested last night that I be paired with Mary Alice, I was secretly thrilled. Although I might be considered too old for her, my being thirty-three to her eighteen, my soul felt connected to her in a way I couldn't explain. Even knowing that we wouldn't be able to get together because of the problem of losing my abilities if I were to mate with her, I was still willing.

Mary Alice stopped at a little trinket stand, and I saw that she was looking at an intricately designed dreamcatcher.

I lifted an eyebrow as I asked, "Would you like that?"

There was a light in her sherry brown eyes that had me motioning the vendor, indicating I wanted to purchase it. I handed the item to Mary Alice and she gently fingered the weave before putting it in her bag, gifting me with the most beautiful smile I'd seen. My eyes went over her five foot eight inch frame, wavy Chestnut hair flowing down to the middle of her back, fair skin a shade lighter than Stephanie's, and a slender build with just enough in the breast department for a handful.

She looked up at me and grinned. "Thanks, Binkie." She tilted her head to the side with a frown. "What's your real name?"

I felt my cheeks heat. Oh man! She would have to ask that. I'd managed to dodge that bullet for more than fifteen years. Everyone else was more interested in how I got tagged with the name Binkie. I looked around, hoping for a distraction of any kind, but no luck. Finally, I bit the bullet and admitted, "My parents named me Heath Cliff."

She smiled. "I like the name Heathcliff."

I shook my head. "Not Heathcliff… Heath Cliff."

From the way she was looking at me, I knew she wasn't understanding the difference. I took a deep breath and said, "My parents, Charlotte and William Cliff, named me Heath."

Her eyes widened as the full impact hit her, and then a smile spread across her beautiful face. "Why do parents do stuff like that to their children? I mean, look at my name. Mary Alice. And worse yet is no one has ever given me a nickname. Well, except the mean kids at school that would call me Malice or Maric."

I gently ran my finger down her cheek. "Would you like a nickname?"

The excitement in her face told its own story. "What would you call me?"

I pretended to think about it for a minute and then replied, "How about doll face?"

Tears shimmered in her eyes as she whispered, "It's perfect. Can I call you Heath?"

I felt something take hold of my heart and squeeze. I gave a simple nod. "Yes."

Our faces seemed to get closer, as if moving in slow motion, and I knew I was going to kiss her. Our mouths were centimeters apart when a disturbance in the area around us had us pulling back to see what was going on. My gun was in my hand and I made sure to keep Mary Alice behind me as I moved us to a safer location.

We ducked inside a gypsy tent, and a voice from the darkness said, "Close the drape. You must hurry."

My gut told me to listen to the voice, and I hurried to shut the curtain, closing the doorway off from those outside. My free hand was reaching out to connect with Mary Alice when I heard the voice continue.

"Come, children. We have a lot to talk about."

I turned to look at Mary Alice. She had her head tilted at an odd angle. My eyes narrowed and I leaned in to ask, "Are you okay?"

Her eyes moved to me as she answered, "Yes, but I think we need to follow."

I wrapped her hand in mine as we cautiously made our way deeper into the dark.

"Sit."

The room lightened and we saw a table with three chairs. There was a crystal ball in the middle of the table. We each took a seat and I looked across the table to see a figure cloaked in black. Gnarled hands came up to remove the hood, and I felt Mary Alice stiffen as the person came into view. If I had to guess an age, I'd say a hundred and fifty. The face was lined and there were only a few strands of baby-fine white hair hanging down to her—or his? It was impossible to tell—shoulders. The eyes were young and vibrant, though.

Mary Alice asked, "Who are you?"

"I am the one who keeps Dreamstalker's true soul. All his ugliness is transferred to me so he can continue to deceive others into following him. They don't see his true nature until it's too late for them, just as it's too late for me."

I frowned. "Why is it too late for you?"

The being waved a hand. "You don't even know if I'm a man or woman. If Dreamstalker is destroyed, I will die as well because I am intrinsically connected to him. It's impossible to know where one of us begins and the other ends."

Mary Alice shook her head. "Then why are you helping us?"

There was sadness in the eyes of the person across from us. "He destroyed my only reason for living. He killed our son."

My eyes narrowed. I looked around the room before saying, "Tell us your story."

She began, "I was eighteen when I met Dreamstalker. I fell hard for his charm." She gave a shake of her head before continuing. "He asked me to bond with him. I assumed that meant we would get married. But that's not the kind of bonding he had in mind. There was a cavern of some type, where he spends most of his time. To prepare me, we mated. He was furious when the bonding had to be postponed because I was pregnant. The more he thought about it though, the more he liked the idea of having someone to mold. My baby was only hours old when he insisted I be prepared for the bonding. I was groomed and led to the chamber. There were strangely shaped crystals all over the room, and the two of us knelt on either side of a large rock. We placed our hands on a larger crystal, which glowed the moment we touched it. He had me repeat what he said—it was some language I'd never heard before. When the ceremony was over, his eyes glowed in the same way the crystal had glowed and I felt darkness invade my soul."

I felt a tear drop on my hand and looked over to see Mary Alice was crying.

"What happened to your son?" she asked.

There was unbearable pain in the eyes that met ours. "I was allowed to watch another raise my child. She was a cold woman with not an ounce of compassion. This ball here is the only view I've had of Garrone for the past fifteen years. I was banished from the caverns because Dreamstalker didn't want anyone to see what became of me. They all believe I am living in his quarters there. My son had a love for creatures. He found some strange-looking organisms that looked as ugly as you perceive me as being. He saw their beauty and nurtured them. Several weeks ago, the largest of the three became Dreamstalker's pet, Nosh. He fed the creature one of the crystals. It went through a metamorphosis and became that slithering snake-like creature. When the healer saw the beauty trapped within, it destroyed the evil that surrounded him and he was no longer able to survive. The crystal shattered and left behind its secrets on the chip. When Garrone saw what the little one had done for his friend, he decided to release the remaining creature in hopes that she would find it and keep it safe. He was afraid Dreamstalker planned to keep using it as bait to teach the other to be cruel."

There was silence for a moment, then I asked, "Won't Dreamstalker know you talked to us?"

"No. He's working with his new pet, so there is a small window of opportunity. Before he entered the school chamber, he gave orders to find Garrone and set an example of him for the other followers. This way, they'll know the consequences for betraying him. After all, if he's willing to severely punish his own son, what will he do to others? He won't know until he leaves the chamber that Garrone has been killed. And he won't know until he attacks you that I have given you the key to defeating him. Then I will have my own revenge and finally get to be with my child."

I lifted an eyebrow. "And what's the key to his demise?"

She smiled. I'd seen many things in my life that scared the shit out of me. None of that compared to the smile on her face as she cackled. "You need to destroy the crystals in the bonding room. Once they are all destroyed, my soul will be set free and all his ugliness will fall upon him. But beware! To fight him, you must traverse the maze of the mind to his location." She handed us a detailed sketch. "She has already been there. She will be afraid to return because she knows he will use her fears against her. In order to make the trip, all of you must confront your fears and make peace with them. The first battle will be of the mind. Once you have destroyed the crystals, you must hurry to get back to your consciousness so you will be ready when they attack. When the time is right, the room will pave the way. The house will protect you as long as possible."

We exchanged looks before thanking her and taking our leave. We had no more then stepped outside when I saw Hal and Bella come to a stop a short distance away. Three figures in black hoodies ran past them before stopping and removing their hoods. When they turned, I stiffened as recognition set in.


	14. More Clues To Go

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 14: More Clues To Go

**Julie's POV:**

I was thrilled I would be spending the majority of the day with Jace. I kept glancing his way as Ram drove behind the other two SUVs. Once Dad gave us our section to check out, we headed out. After a while, we'd made our way through everything in our section and hadn't found anything. I noticed we'd picked up a couple of tails though and leaned into Jace as if we were more intimate than we were. He leaned down and from the tone of his voice, I knew he'd caught on to my actions.

His voice was barely a low whisper as he asked, "What is it?"

I snuggled closer and replied, "We're being followed—have been for about the past ten minutes or so—by those two guys in the black hoodies."

Jace pulled me into an embrace and my heart sped up, even though I knew this was his way of checking out our tail without letting them know he was aware of them. As Jace's head lowered to mine, I fell in with his plan and moved my head so he would be able to see them. His breath on my neck sent heat pooling to regions south, and I couldn't stop the moan. His hand cupped the back of my neck and drew me closer. I was getting ready to say something, when his mouth covered mine and he pulled me more fully into him.

When he pulled back, my eyes opened and I saw the heat of desire in his. His mouth was a hairsbreadth away from mine as he said, "They're heading out. I want you to head back to your dad and I'll follow them."

I rolled my eyes and made a sound. "Yeah, right! Like that's going to happen. We're a team. Either we go together or neither one of us goes."

A muscle moved in his jaw, but a few seconds later, he gave a single nod. "You do everything I tell you, when I tell you, no arguments."

I gave a single nod of my head to let him know I was listening.

He took hold of my hand and then we were on the move. If I'd thought I knew anything about following people before, I was wrong. What I knew was nothing compared to the education I got as I moved with Jace. He had us stopping at odd points and trying on hats that hid our faces, stopping for several seconds before cautiously peeking around corners, and the embraces he pulled me into were hot enough to engulf me in flames. When we reached the final destination, we were just in time to see the two men we'd been following get into a car with another man and leave. When I got a good look at the driver of the car, I couldn't hold back the gasp. My eyes flew to Jace's, and the look in his eyes promised pain for someone.

We stayed in our place of hiding until they had left the area, and then Jace turned to me and said, "Let's go find your dad and the others. He'll want to know about this as soon as possible."

"All right."

We headed back toward the hub of activity on the boardwalk in search of everyone else. As we walked, I had the uneasy sense of being watched. I placed my hand on Jace's arm, which caused him to stop and turn back to me. There was a question on his face, and then suddenly, he grabbed me and pulled me sideways as a black clad figure on a motorcycle went roaring by. A feeling of menace was left in its wake, and I had the feeling there were more eyes out there watching us. I turned to look at Jace, only to notice he had his phone out and was making a call.

I stayed where I was, wrapped in his arms, and listened as he talked with the person on the other end. I was curious as to who he was talking to, but would wait till he was finished before asking questions.

Jace was scanning the area around us, his voice was low as he said, "Они - в движении. Мы должны окружить от вагонов." ("They're on the move. We need to circle the wagons.")

After pausing for a second, he replaced his phone in his pocket before putting his hand on my waist and directing us back in the direction we'd come from. I couldn't shake the feeling of eyes on us and moved a step closer to Jace. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me even closer. We reached a little trinket stand, and there was an intricately designed wind chime. When I hesitated, Jace stopped, looking down at me with narrowed eyes to see what had caused me to pause. I motioned to the wind chime, and he turned to study it for several seconds before asking the vendor to wrap it up.

After he'd paid and received the small box, he handed it to me and said, "The silver lining to the day."

I grinned as I said, "This is the cherry on top. The silver lightning was the kisses."

Lowering his head with heated eyes, his face came within mere inches of mine, but we were interrupted when we heard a familiar voice calling out to us. Jace halted the progression of his head and turned to look in the direction from which we were being hailed. I turned as well, and sure enough, Hal, Bella, Binkie, and Mary Alice were headed our way. Suddenly, the feeling that eyes were watching disappeared. I glanced at Jace and saw him scanning the area with narrowed eyes, as if he were looking to see if there was someone leaving the area.

**Bree's POV:**

When I opened my eyes and saw Lester lying beside me with a grin on his face, I couldn't help the heat that entered my cheeks. When we'd come together the night before, it seemed as if the earth had moved. I felt connected to Lester in a way I'd never been before. When we climaxed, it was as if our bodies had merged and our souls had become whole. I was aware of Lester in ways that I'd never been before. There was no longer silence. I was totally aware of him, as if we shared the same mental and physical space. When he headed back to his room so we could each shower and dress for the day, I felt his loss acutely. When he joined me once again as I stepped out of my room, the feeling of being complete again was strong.

After breakfast, we headed out and climbed into the last SUV in line for the trip to Atlantic City. Lester helped me into the front passenger seat before rounding the front and taking the driver's position. A couple of seconds later, we were joined by Micha and Hector. Once we'd gotten underway, the two clowns in the back seat started making smart-aleck remarks about thinking there was an earthquake the night before because the house was shaking and there was a storm raging outside. That plus the noises in our wing didn't let them get much sleep.

I felt my cheeks heating.

Lester looked in the rearview mirror and said something in a language I'd never heard, yet I totally understood what he was saying. "Unless you want me to stop and kick your asses out of the vehicle, you will cease and desist this line of conversation."

Both of them just smiled and winked before settling back and relaxing.

After we arrived in Atlantic City and got orders from Ranger, I watched as everyone headed in their assigned direction. Les and I were given the job of returning to the Ferris wheel and seeing if we could find out anything more about the owner.

Not being one to take his job lightly, Lester bought a whole roll of tickets and waggled his eyes before saying, "Are you ready for some fun, Chula?"

I grinned back at him and said, "Yes. But since we can't do that in front of all these people, we might as well go on some rides."

He threw back his head and laughed before wrapping me in his arms and hugging me close. He kissed me thoroughly before whispering, "Let's get started."

We started with the first ride, figuring we'd leave the Ferris wheel till last. He held me close on each of the rides, and we took breaks occasionally to check out the trinket stands or to grab a snack. When we were finally standing in line waiting to go on the Ferris wheel, I had the sudden feeling that danger was creeping up on us. When the man took our tickets from Les, there was a look in his eyes that creeped me out, as if he was anticipating feeding on our fear.

Lester and I sat in the seat and the arm was locked into place before we lifted off the platform and moved up so the next seat could be emptied to allow others to get on. We were nearing the top when the sense of darkness closing in grew stronger. When we stopped on top, just like the last time, our seat started swinging. I was still anxious, but the fear I'd felt last time didn't materialize. I tilted my head to the side and wondered why it was different this time. Moving slightly, I looked at the area around us.

I was jarred out of my observations by screams coming from below us. I looked at Lester, who had his weapon out and at the ready. The look on his face was fierce. I leaned slightly to see if I could see what was going on, but no dice. The screams were getting louder, as they were coming from the seat in front, as well as the seat behind us. I placed my hand in Lester's and focused. I saw the creatures searching those on the ride and knew they were looking for us. Every time someone screamed, the man operating the Ferris wheel got a look of ecstasy on his face.

I blinked. With them being just below us, it wouldn't be long before they reached us, and when that didn't happen, I frowned. I looked to Les and kept my voice soft as I asked, "What happened?"

He shook his head slightly and held a finger in front of his mouth. There was a loud growl from well below us, and then the wheel was moving. We went around several times before finally coming to rest on the riser where the seats were stopped to empty and let others on. As the operator stopped our seat, I could see the confusion in his eyes as he looked at us. He unlocked the arm and raised it. As we stood to exit the ride, I saw his eyes glow as his hand reached out to Les.

I quickly called out, "Les!"

Even as I thought it, Les was moving and whirled around in time to deflect the hand coming at him. Before he could do any more, a cloud of smoke appeared and an unearthly pale man—six feet tall, with glossy shoulder-length black hair swept back from his face in a wave, eyes as black as his hair, and dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit and black dress shirt—materialized in front of us. (pg.4 Wicked Appetite)

The newcomer touched the Ferris wheel operator and the man disintegrated into thin air. We looked at the new guy, and he bowed his head slightly. "Tell my cousin we are even."

Les raised an eyebrow. "And your cousin is?"

Black eyes narrowed on me and he gave a sardonic half-smile, "She knows who I am."

With that, smoke billowed up around us and he disappeared.

I felt Lester's eyes on me as he asked, "Do you know who he was?"

I nodded. "That was Diesel's cousin, Wulf. He's an unmentionable as well."

We looked around at the crowd that was forming, and Les suggested, "We need to get out of here before we attract any more attention."

We made our way over between a couple of tents and stopped to scope out the area.

I hesitated a moment before asking, "Did you get the impression they were searching for us but weren't able to find us?"

A muscle jumped in Les's jaw as he gave a short nod and replied, "Exactly."

I let out a sigh. I knew what I needed to do…but I was hesitant. Lester placed a hand on both my shoulders and turned me to him. "I'm with you all the way, Chula. Where would you like to go?"

I looked into his steady gaze for a moment and then turned to look around at the area around us. There was an odd glow coming from one of the tented areas, and I headed us in that direction. When we arrived, the area was deserted. I felt drawn to a particular corner and found a spot to get comfortable. There were a couple of chairs, and we each took one. Lester took both my hands in his as I let myself look for the answers we needed.

There was darkness all around, and for a moment, I couldn't find my way through the maze of tunnels to the one where they waited. Then, as if I was being welcomed, one of the tunnels lit up and I made my way forward. I had gone a long way before the tunnel started to open up, and I knew I was coming up to a room of some kind. I walked into the room and saw people in white robes milling about. The design on their robes struck a chord in my memory. As I entered the room, they parted, giving me a pathway to an observation area. I stepped up to the two-way glass and watched the scene on the other side.

I saw the scene from when Lester and I had come here the day we found Hobbit and then the scene from earlier. A fog rolled in, and when it cleared, I saw a file being opened and a picture being placed on the top of the stack. I squinted, trying to get a look at the person who'd placed it there. I felt myself stiffen as I got a glimpse of the person standing there, sardonic smile and all. There were so many questions, and I needed answers.

From beside me, I heard, "What is it you want to know, Breezy?"

I turned in shock, my eyes and mouth opening wide. Hands came up and removed the white hood from the head of the person in front of me. Tears burned at the backs of my eyes. He was just as I remembered him twenty years before. His warm brown eyes were kind as he gently said, "Yes, Breezy. It's really me."

"How?" was all I could manage to say.

"You are in the Spirit World. The answers you seek are here. You can see the answers to that which you seek. It will then be up to you to figure out how to deal with them to get the results you desire."

"What I'm seeing is what we need to know to defeat Dreamstalker?"

There was a hesitation. "Those are not the answers you seek. It will take all of you working together to come up with a solid plan of action in order to defeat Dreamstalker. Know that you have a powerful ally willing to help you. Come. Look into the mirror and I will show you the connection to your dreams."

I moved closer to the mirror and once again saw myself on the Ferris wheel with Les. As I again felt the danger creeping closer, I heard the figure beside me whisper in my ear, and suddenly, everything cleared and I saw what was truly there.

I turned to the spirit beside me and said, "I know what to do."

He nodded. "There is one more thing you must see, and then I have something I want to tell you. Look into the mirror one final time."

I did as he asked and saw Angelina. She took out a necklace much like the one my father had given me just before his murder. I listened as she chanted a song and the necklace glowed. She placed it in its special place, then I saw Lester lifting the talisman from the back seat of the taxi and placing it around his neck. The view clouded over, and when it cleared, there were five children playing together. I knew who they were… Angelina was the little girl. The man beside me was one. Diesel was the third, and then the pale man in black from just a bit ago was part of the group as well. The fifth member of the group was distorted. I had an impression of evil when I looked at him, and suddenly, I knew that had been the Demon.

I turned to the spirit beside me and he nodded. "Yes. It was originally the five musketeers. Everyone thought Wulf was the bad egg because of his peculiar looks and his thirst for power. But they were wrong. Wulf was always redeemable."

"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

He smiled. "No. That was an added bonus. What I need to tell you is this. The reason Diesel warned you about the consequences last night…"

My cheeks heated. I felt extremely uncomfortable talking about this with him.

There was a chuckle before he continued. "Don't be embarrassed, Breezy. As I was saying, Diesel knew you needed to go into intimacy with your eyes opened, because once you had done the deed, there'd be no going back for the two of you. You are linked with Lester now. That's why they couldn't find you. When Lester put the talisman on, he became a visible target. It was like they had the two pieces in sight and needed to destroy both before they could unite. Now that you are united, they can no longer track you through the necklace. You are invisible to them now, just like your young man. When soul mates connect, it's a beautiful thing; then and only then can two people with abilities procreate. Otherwise, the female will drain the male of his abilities. There are exceptions to this rule. That's where Julie, Stephanie, and you come into the equation. Because the three of you are second generation, you have the ability to mate with anyone and create a child with abilities. That leads me to the final point I wanted to tell you. When the battle is heated, remember: there is no stronger force on Earth than a mother protecting her young. She can single-handedly destroy all comers."

I felt myself sway and strong male arms wrapped around me to hold me in place. I opened my eyes and saw Lester with an odd expression on his face. I frowned, asking, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Damn! It was like I was there with you, even though I was wide awake and sitting right here watching you."

I gave him a half-smile. "That's part of why Diesel stopped in to warn us last night."

He nodded. His eyes gentled as he looked at me in awe. "We're joined. Just so you know, Bree, I wouldn't change a thing. I feel more alive than I have in years. One of the hardest things I ever had to do was force myself to stay away from you."

I placed my palm against his cheek. "I wouldn't change anything either."

We just sat there looking at each other for several seconds before we stood and headed back to find the others.


	15. Clues, Clues, Who Has The Clues

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 15: Clues, Clues, Who Has The Clues

**Micha's POV:**

When Hector and I climbed into the SUV, the change I'd noticed when Bree joined us at the breakfast table was even more pronounced. Her eyes glowed when she looked at Lester. Seeing her with him gave me a melancholy feeling. Not because I thought Les would be bad for her or anything. Quite the contrary. He would protect her with his life. The feeling was because I felt like I was losing my little girl—probably how every father felt when his little girl found the man of her dreams—because that's what she was to me. My daughter. I'd been the closest thing she had to a father from the time she was four years old. For the past ten years, I'd shared that place in her life with Ranger and Hector. Ranger because he married Stephanie, and she was the closest thing to a mom Bree'd had since that fateful day when she was four. Hector because we had become partners ten years ago. Wonder if that would make Hector her stepmom, as well? I glanced over at him and knew from the look on his face that it was better to not go in that direction.

When we made some remarks to Les and Bree about the earthquake last night, Bree's cheeks turned pink. From the look Lester gave us in the rearview mirror and the tone of his voice, we knew it was in our best interest to back off. We settled back and relaxed as the scenery flew past us.

Once we came to a stop in the parking lot, everyone gathered together so Ranger could give us our marching orders. Once we'd been dismissed, each group went in its own direction to see what they could find. After about the fourth time I glanced back to where Bree and Les had disappeared, Hector slapped me on the back and said, "Let's go. Sooner we get done, sooner we get back."

I turned my focus to the task at hand. We made our way through our section of the boardwalk, making sure to stop at all the souvenir shops. It was at the third shop we visited that I found the tiny unicorn, and I knew Bree would love it. It was approximately two inches tall and three inches long, glossy white pearl with shimmering pale green and pink colors reflected on it, and the painted-on black eyes seemed to take on a life of their own when held up to the light.

When I held it up, Hector stepped up beside me and said, "You going to get that for Bree?"

I nodded. "I thought I would. She'll love it."

He grinned. "She does love her unicorns."

I got a faraway look in my eyes as I recalled the first time she'd received a unicorn. She was just two and we'd gone into a novelty store. There was an antique unicorn sitting on the shelf, and she'd picked it up, looked up to her dad, and asked him if she could take home the wounded warrior. There'd been an odd look on Raine's face when he'd knelt down and asked her how she knew it was a wounded warrior.

She'd smiled and replied, "He fought battles. Little boy in chair happy." Her expression had then turned sad. "He died. War horse sad. No more battles." Then she looked up at Raine and declared, "We can fix him. He be happy again."

Raine had laid his hand on her head and gotten that same look in his eyes that Bree always got when she was having a vision. When his eyes had cleared again, he'd looked down at her with a smile, then said, "Okay, Breezy. We'll buy your wounded warrior and make him whole again."

I looked over to Hector and asked, "Do you see anything Angel might like?" I handed over the money and waited for the shop owner to put it in a gift box.

He shook his head. "Not here, but I'm still looking."

I put it in my pocket, and we moved on to the next place.

At the last shop, Hector found a cameo of a Madonna and child. It was a beautiful brooch done in twenty-four karat gold, with a pink in-laid cast of mother and baby, where they were raised on the top of the oval-shaped brooch. Hector lifted the pin in his hands and smiled.

I asked, "Is that the winner?"

His eyes were alive with excitement as he replied, "Oh yeah. This is perfect. It's alive with electricity. She'll love it." He handed it to the shop keeper and asked for it to be wrapped as he handed over the money. Once he'd been given the wrapped gift, we headed back to the task at hand of searching this area of the boardwalk.

We found nothing as we continued to hunt for clues. I felt the fear in those around us though and couldn't help but wonder what was hiding in the shadows. We moved into one of the buildings a bit farther down and looked around. The energy inside this shop was more pronounced, and what we were seeing didn't meet up with the feelings that were running through us. Hector turned and our eyes met. He placed his hand on the wall of the shop we were in, and the next thing I knew, he was spinning and moving toward me at lightning speed, taking me down to the ground in a roll so he came out covering me. I heard the sound of a bullet smacking into wood and felt the heat as the bullet passed within a hairsbreadth of my arm.

A second later, a figure in black stepped into the shop with a gun in hand. The build seemed to suggest it was a man. He aimed the gun, but the weapon in Hector's hand fired first, and as the bullet hit him in the heart, he fell backwards to the ground. Hector was on the move to make sure the enemy couldn't act. I was a bit slower getting up, but I was beside them in seconds.

Hector was crouched on the floor by the body. He lifted his head to me and said, "He's dead."

I pushed the hood back and frowned. Suddenly, whatever was on the floor beside us turned to look at us and smiled. "There is no death as long as the crystals hum. They rejuvenate all of us." With that, it seemed as if he melted through the floor.

Hector and I looked at each other, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. There was a pool of some type of substance on the floor. Hector took out a vial, scooped some of it up, and closed the top tightly. He put the vial in his utility belt, and then we headed out of the shop to find the others. Neither one of us voiced what we were thinking.

As we exited the shop, the sound of sirens rent the air. Without glancing at each other, we took off running to where smoke was billowing to the sky. I couldn't help but think that the spot looked to be about where we had parked our vehicles.

_Shit!_

**Stephanie's POV:**

I was torn about this trip. As much as I wanted to leave the twins at the house so they would be safe, I wasn't willing to take the chance that something might happen to them if we did leave them behind. It was the same feeling as I'd had ten years ago, when I'd had to allow Julie and Bree to help us fight against the three evil ones. I figured the least I could do was to make sure the day was a fun one.

We searched through our section of the boardwalk and came up empty. I had the feeling that whatever was here was purposely staying away from us. I hoped the others had better luck in finding some answers.

Figuring it was time for the twins to have some fun, I bought a huge roll of tickets so they could go on rides. Between Ranger, Tank, Cal, Ram and me, we surrounded the ride while the children were on it, and then when they got off, they would come to whichever one of us was the closest to them. I couldn't help but smile as I watched them laughing and having so much enjoyment on each ride, even as I kept my eyes open, scanning the area around us. As much as I wanted to let my guard down and join them, I couldn't relax. The feeling in the pit of my stomach wouldn't allow me to.

Picking up on my uneasiness, Sky made sure to hug me after each ride, while Alex would take my hand as we moved to the next ride—trying to reassure me—but nothing was working. Even Ranger would walk me to my point of guard, wrap his hand around the back of my neck, and kiss me before taking up his own station a bit farther on. Once the last of the tickets had been used, I took a deep breath and looked around.

As I looked back over the rides the children had been on, a picture formed in my mind. It was as if I was looking down on the scene from a perch in the sky, and by connecting the dots of each of the rides, a picture was formed. When I connected the last dot, I whipped around and cried, "The vehicles."

The guys looked at me for a moment, and then Tank lifted Sky and Alex in his arms and we all took off running to the parking lot. We'd just reached the edge of the lot when all five vehicles blew up. Each one jumped into the air about three feet before crashing back down as it burst into flames in a domino effect. I was breathing hard from the running, and at that moment, all I wanted to do was cry.

Ranger wrapped his arms around me and held me close as he whispered, "Everybody's safe, Babe. The vehicles were empty."

Ram moved close and said, "Someone placed charges on the undercarriage so once the first one was blown, the others would follow in succession. Whoever did this is an expert in explosives."

Cal, who'd moved a few steps closer to the burning vehicles without getting in the path of destruction, turned and made his way back to us. His eyes were narrowed slits as he said, "They're angry the charges went off early. The explosions were supposed to go off when we got in the vehicles to return to the house. They're trying to figure out what set them off early."

Tank stood beside us with a twin under each arm in a football carry. His deep voice boomed as he asked, "What did cause it to go of early?"

Sky giggled. "Alex."

We turned to the children. Tank set them on their feet, and Alex folded his arms across his chest with a look of thunder in his eyes. His breathing was slightly elevated as he scanned the area around us.

Cal spoke up again. "Their intent was to get us all in one fell swoop." He turned to look at me. "You seem to be their main target to destroy, Bomber."

Suddenly, there were screams from behind us. We turned to see that the boardwalk was shut down. There wasn't a light to be found.

I heard Bree's amused voice saying, "Man, Alex, when you get mad, you really know how to turn the lights out."

I spun to see that she and Lester, as well as the rest of our merry group, were joining us. I turned back and saw that Alex's expression had darkened further. There was no denying he was royally pissed.

As I took in the burning SUVs, I wondered how were we going to get back to the house, and then I had a thought that maybe that was the idea. I fished my phone out, and when it was answered, I said, "Watch yourselves. They stranded us and may make a move on you."

Bobby hesitated and I knew something had happened. Before I could say anything, he said, "Something tried to attack Angel. She's okay, and we really don't understand it, but whatever came after her was hit with shards of glass from the windows of the house."

I had a sudden feeling that we were going to need more help. I looked up at Ranger as I said, "I think it's time to call in the cavalry."

I disconnected the call and punched in a number I knew from memory. I waited for it to connect on the other end, and when I heard his hello, I said, "Daddy, I think we're going to need some help. Can you round up the troops?"

"I'm on my way, pumpkin."

I put the phone in my bag and turned to the others.

Ranger leaned down, a small smirk on his face as he said, "I see the wheels turning, Babe. Care to share?"

I pushed back the strands of hair falling in my face before saying, "I talked to Bobby. Apparently, an attack was made on Angel. The really weird thing is, he said it was like the house protected her by throwing shards of glass at the attackers. I have a feeling we're getting close to a battle and I think we're going to need all the help we can get." I let out a sigh. "So, any ideas on how we're going to get back to the house?"

Sky giggled. "Don't worry, Mom. We need to have the wedding first. Then our chariot will be waiting."

I gave my daughter a puzzled look, wondering what it was she knew that the rest of us didn't.

Before I could dwell on it anymore, Alex quietly asked, "So who's getting married?"

We all looked at Micha and Hector.

They put their hands up in surrender, chuckling. Hector turned to Micha with a twinkle in his eye, knelt down on one knee, and took Micha's hand in his. Looking up at him, Hector asked, "Will you do me the honor of being my mate for life?"

There was an answering twinkle in Micha's eyes as he responded, "As long as you'll return the favor and be my mate for life."

Hector stood and we all smiled with amusement as they embraced playfully.

Sky cried out, "Oh look! Isn't that the most beautiful place you've ever seen?"

Turning to see what had caught her interest, we saw a dilapidated, antiquated church. I looked over to Hector and Micha and watched as they took in the building. They turned to each other, and there was some sort of silent communication going on between them.

Micha knelt down by Sky and softly asked, "Would you like it if we got married there?"

Sky's expression turned radiant as her eyes lit up. "Will you really?! Oh, Micha, it would love to be useful again. Father Marteen would be thrilled to marry you and Hector. Angel would get to watch as well, since she can't be here herself."

Micha glanced at Hector, and at his nod, he turned back to Sky and said, "All right, princess. We'll get married here."

As if those were the magic words, we got to work. I took one final look at the numerous firemen working on extinguishing the flames from the four SUVs, then glanced around us at the activity on the boardwalk. People were frantically trying to get the machinery working once more. Finally, I looked to my family and friends around me and thought to myself, _Whoever is behind this better run and hide, because nobody gets by with targeting my family. _I had an urgent desire to acquaint them with my knee to their family jewels. Sounds of animals howling in pain were rampant in the air as we made our way inside the small building where the guys were going to exchange wedding vows.

We moved into the ancient church, and the décor of the inside surprised us all. It was as if we'd stepped back in time to the turn of the nineteenth century. My eyes widened as I took in the beauty on the inside.

A small figure in a black robe came through a door at the back of the room. His eyes lit up as he took us in. He folded his hands in front of him as if in prayer and bowed to us. "It is an honor to serve the Golden Ones."

I hesitated before saying, "My friends wish to get married."

"Yes. We will have a wonderful ceremony. Come, I will show you were you can change." He looked around before smiling at Sky. "You shall scatter the rose petals." His gaze moved to Bree. "You will stand beside your brother." Then his gaze moved to Ranger. "You will stand up for the couple as well." He then turned to the rest of us and said, "The rest of you may take your seats."

As we watched the group led by the priest leave, I wasn't the only one with a bemused expression.

Cal grinned. "He's getting them squared away. Micha and Bree will walk down the aisle to mimic the father giving away the bride. Ranger and Hector will come through the groom's door to stand at the altar."

Ram smiled. "Sky is going to look beautiful, Steph. There's a dress hanging there that's just made for her." He chuckled. "I'm not sure Bree's as thrilled with the one she gets to wear." His chuckle grew as he added, "And wait till you get a load of the suits the guys get to wear. Ranger's glaring at his, and you can see the _Not a chance in hell_ on his face."

Just then, the priest joined us and we took our seats.

A door opened and Hector, followed by Ranger, stepped through the doorway and moved to stand in front of the priest. Hector wore a dark gray suit jacket that was known as a sack suit for that period of the time. It was free of a middle seam, which caused the suit to fit loose on the body. His shirt included a removable bib, which enabled a man to hide unsightly stains, and the shirt was made separately from cuffs and collars to allow the men to wear the shirt on multiple occasions without requiring the shirt to be washed. The trousers were fitted just above the waist line and did not include a crease, and the dark gray trousers with black stripes were supported by a pair of black suspenders.

Ranger was dressed in the same SWAT black that he'd been wearing when we'd left the house this morning. From the look on Hector's face, the outfit was a definite thorn to the day. The wedding march began, and Sky moved forward from the back of the church.

When I caught my first glimpse of my little girl, tears came to my eyes at how beautiful she looked. Her hair was pulled back into an intricate butterfly comb that held the hair off her face, with the rest falling in gentle curls. Her dress was done in a pale yellow eighteen twenties-style, with an elaborate hem decoration known as "hem sculpture," which was a three-dimensional leaf pattern incorporating chiffon, which was repeated on the bodice and sleeves. The silhouette, with the raised waist and short sleeve puffs combined with long sleeves, was characteristic of the period.

She was holding a gold wire basket filled with rose petals that she tossed in the air as she made her way to the front of the church. On reaching her father, she turned with a smile and took the rest of the petals in her small hand and tossed them up to float in the air before they wafted down to the ground. It sounded as if there were hundreds of angel wings flying in the air. The smile on Sky's face was pure beauty.

My attention was drawn to the back of the room as Bree and Micha stepped into the doorway. I put my hand up to my mouth to hide the smile of amusement as I got my first look at Micha. He was dressed in an outfit that was a twin to Hector's own, with the only difference being Micha's was done in a pale gray and the pants were checked instead of having stripes. His eyes moved to me, and I got the full effect of his glare. I couldn't help the giggle, and Bella and Mary Alice joined me as well.

My eyes moved to Bree and I was stunned at the result of how the dress made her look. It was also done in the style of the period, in a mix of light blue and gold, giving it a shimmering effect. The collarless deep V neckline led to a fitted bodice, flowing out to a full skirt. There were laces and tassels on the sleeves, which gave it a fancy touch.

Micha and Bree walked down the aisle together, and when they reached the spot where Hector stood beside Ranger, Bree placed her brother's hand in Hector's and stepped to the side beside Sky. The priest led them in their vows, and I was impressed with the whole of the ceremony. When they were pronounced married, the kiss they shared was packed with emotion. They looked just as hot together today as they had ten years ago when they were dancing around each other. When they turned to make their way back up the aisle to show the world they were now united as one, the look of excitement and love in their eyes made it impossible for me to hold back the tears at the beauty I saw in their union. Ranger then escorted Bree and Sky up the aisle, and then the rest of us joined the newlyweds.

After spending several minutes congratulating the couple, we headed outside, only to come to a stop. As I got a good look at what was waiting for us, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.


	16. Your Chariot Awaits

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 16: Your Chariot Awaits

**Tank's POV:**

Stepping out of the church, we were greeted by the ugliest sight imaginable. It was a cross between a deluxe stretch limo that seated between seventeen and twenty passengers and the Partridge Family's psychedelic bus, so what we ended up with was a limo in various neon shades of color and none of them blending in with the colors around them.

I had to bite my cheek hard not to let what I was thinking show. One glance at Sally Sweet, standing beside the driver's side door of the vehicle waiting for us, nearly sent me over the edge. He was dressed in the Harem outfit Barbara Eden wore on that sixties comedy, _I Dream Of Jeanie_—all six feet six hairy inches of him.

I heard giggles and snickers, which told me the rest of our group had gotten a good look at him. We moved toward the limo and everyone piled in. I offered to drive, but Sweet just smiled and shook his head to decline the offer.

By the time we reached the house, we were all ready for the ride from hell to be over. Sweet seemed to enjoy seeing how quickly he could go from zero to maximum speed, back down to zero as many times as he could. I wasn't the only one wanting to strangle him before the ride was over. I swear the flaming skull on Cal's forehead was actually glowing, especially when the force of one sudden braking had him sitting in Ram's lap.

When we reached the house, I was glad to finally climb out of our torture chamber and put my feet on solid ground, once again being in control of my own motions.

It was closing in on seven in the evening when we entered the house. I could've sworn I heard Stephanie's stomach on the way back protesting from the lack of food, and I was hungry enough to eat a horse myself. The last time we'd eaten had been carnival fair around noon.

Donella greeted us when we stepped inside the great room. She had a smile on her face as she said, "I have prepared a wedding dinner, if you care to move to the dining room, please."

Trouping in that direction, I noticed the others were already seated at the table. There was a huge banner that read, _**Congratulations Hector & Micha**_, and then underneath that was the saying, _Live long and prosper!_

Those of us entering laughed.

We took our seats and the feast began. There was a ton of food, which was a good thing because it seemed like every one of us was starving. At the end of the meal was the pièce de résistance. The wedding cake was placed in front of Micha and Hector. It rose four tiers high, and instead of being decorated with all kinds of flowers, there were two guns crossed to form an X where each flower would have gone. It was a perfect guy's cake.

When a knife was set in front of the newlyweds, it was obvious they were meant to cut the first piece, as was traditional. Together, they stood and held the knife to make the first cut. Everyone clapped as they made the second cut and placed the first piece of cake on a saucer in front of them before cutting it in half and setting the knife down. Each of them picked up one of the pieces of cake, and then they turned to each other with twinkling eyes and gently smashed the cake into the other's mouth, leaving a mess of cake everywhere. They embraced and their mouths moved together in the hottest public display of affection I'd ever seen between two guys. When they broke apart, their mouths were once again clean.

**Stephanie's POV:**

Watching Micha and Hector kissing had my cheeks heating. Whew! Was it getting steamy in here? I felt Ranger's hand on the back of my neck, and the heat coming from his hand had me wanting to skip cake. I saw Ranger's eyebrow lift as he sent me an incredulous look. Shit! Bet he picked up on the wanting to skip cake. I rolled my eyes and quickly stuck my tongue out at him. His eyes heated, and I knew I was in for one delightful night.

It was after ten by the time the cake was eaten and toasts were made. We each said our goodnights and headed in our own direction. Carlos and I made sure the children were settled before heading to our own bedroom.

Once the door closed, he took me in his arms and lifted me to him as his mouth covered mine. I felt myself being lowered onto the bed as our tongues continued to duel. I felt the loss of his mouth as he pulled back long enough to strip down, then he divested me of my clothing before joining me on the bed. His mouth and hands worked attentively to make my body sing as we did the horizontal tango many times during the remainder of the night.

As I woke the next morning, I realized that Carlos was still in bed with me. I stretched and brought myself so I was lying against his chest before opening my eyes. I smiled sleepily up at him. He was lying there looking at me with a heated look in his eyes. His mouth covered mine as his hand came up to cup my breast.

When his mouth lifted from mine, I asked, "Do we have time?"

There was a low chuckle before he replied, "We'll make time, Babe."

His mouth covered mine once again as his hand made contact with my mound, and in no time, the juices were flowing. When I went over the edge, Carlos was right there with me. When our breathing was finally back to normal, we headed into the bathroom, where we showered together before dressing for the day.

As I was putting on the finishing touches on my makeup, my phone rang. I quickly flicked my lashes with a last brush of mascara and then opened the phone to answer it. "Hello?"

"Pumpkin, we're on our way. We should be there shortly."

I grinned. "Good to know, Daddy."

We talked a bit more before I disconnected and turned to Ranger. Seeing him standing there in his black SWAT clothing, I wanted to strip him down and start all over where we'd left off before our shower. Looking up into his desire-laden eyes, I knew his thoughts were running along the same path. Before we could act on that, Ranger's phone started ringing.

There was regret in his eyes as he lifted the phone to his ear and said, "Yo."

While he was on the phone, I decided to go check on the twins. I stopped at Alex's room first, and when I peeked in the room, he was already dressed and was on his bed, reading a book.

I grinned at him and asked, "What are you reading?"

Alex looked up at me and smiled. "I'm not sure. It's been sitting on my nightstand since we got here, and this morning when I was lying in bed trying to decide if I should get up or sleep in a bit longer, it flew off the nightstand and landed on the bed beside me. I thought I'd see what it's about."

He handed me the book, and careful so as not to lose his place, I looked it over to see if I could find out any clues about where it might have come from. The markings weren't familiar, and neither was the print.

Frowning, I turned to Alex and asked, "Do you understand this language?"

He nodded. "It's weird. I've never seen it before, but I can read the language and understand what they're talking about. It's a very enjoyable book so far." He hesitated. "There is something odd about the book, though."

I gave him a puzzled look as I asked, "What?"

Alex took the book from me and turned to the last section of the book. My eyes widened at the blank pages there. He looked up at me and continued, "The book talks about a stalker of dreams that is able to use others' fears against them. He has done horrible things to a treasured creature in order to turn it to darkness. The creature was freed and allowed to fly into the light, but the stalker only chose another creature to ply his evil on. The keeper of the creatures freed the last of the breed in hopes that it would be rescued by the child of light. He paid for his action by forfeiting his life. According to the book, the creature in the hands of the child of light is the only one capable of destroying the room of crystals."

Listening to him, I placed a hand over my stomach and had the weirdest sensation. I couldn't say why my spidey-sense was going ape shit, but I was betting it had something to do with what Alex had just told me. Plus, I'd never heard of a book being published where there were that many blank pages at the end of it.

I leaned over and kissed Alex's forehead before standing. "I'm going to see if Sky's awake. Why don't you go see if your dad's off the phone so we can go down for breakfast?"

Alex nodded. "All right." He hesitated about placing the book on the nightstand, and then as if thinking better of the action, he took the book with him as he raced off in the direction of the master bedroom.

I made my way to Sky's room, and the sounds of snoring as I entered the room gave me pause. Geez Louise! And I thought Grandma Mazur was loud. All of a sudden, the snore cut off mid-stream, and Hobbit ran from the bedroom in the closet to stand in front of Sky's bed, his sword out at the ready. My eyes widened and I bit the side of my cheek to keep from laughing. Hobbit seemed to become aware that it was me there and not someone he would have to protect Sky from.

Seeing there was no danger, he sheathed his sword and bowed at the waist before heading back into his room. I heard a muffled giggle and turned to see Sky half hidden under the covers with a smile on her face.

I winked at her and asked, "You ready to get up and eat breakfast?"

She jumped out of bed, saying, "I'll be ready in a couple minutes."

I sat down on her bed for a moment and looked around. From the sounds in the closet, I was guessing Hobbit was dressing as well. I noticed an odd noise coming from the floor beside where I was sitting and looked down to see the little creature Sky had found under the deck. Whatever it was seemed to be waking up and trying to get out of the makeshift box she'd made for it. I gently reached down and lifted the thing into my arms. As I sat there holding the baby creature, I felt a lump growing in my throat. It was true that this little fellow didn't look so good, but he was so small and defenseless, I couldn't help but feel strongly that someone had tried to hurt the little thing.

I glanced up as Sky skipped back to the room. She stopped and looked at me with a smile on her face, eyes glowing with joy. "You've bonded with Pen."

I wrinkled my nose at her and winked. "Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Oh yes! Are you going to carry Pen, Mom?"

I shrugged, oddly reluctant to release the little thing in my hands. "Sure."

With that, we were on our way. Hobbit joined us as we exited the room, and Ranger and Alex were in the hall area waiting for us.

**Dreamstalker's POV:**

I felt the power as the creature before me became more and more evil. This one would be even more powerful than Nosh. It had already grown to several times its normal size. When I'd forced it to attack the remaining creature, I'd seen the lust for blood enter its eyes. Now it was time to name my pet. I needed just the perfect name. I was down to two. It would all depend on if the creature was male or female. I would know in just a few moments, when it emerged from its final catalyst.

Yesterday had been an exercise in futility. It had started out so promising. I felt them leave the house and knew it was time to move in. Unfortunately, they had somehow devised a way for the house to offer them protection. When the shards of glass started heading our way, I knew we would need to back off and re-group. Then of course, all the teams I'd sent after the others had failed me. Even the ones I'd sent after my son Garrone. Well, they weren't entirely unsuccessful. The team had managed to kill Garrone, which had sent a message to the rest of my followers. But they had failed on all other counts to take out the Golden Ones when they divided into smaller groups.

When I learned of them blowing up the vehicles, I was furious. I wasn't ready for them to know we could attach bombs without their knowledge. And I damn sure wasn't ready for them to know they weren't able to kill us. That bastard had let slip our secret, and if they figured it out… Well, let's just hope they didn't figure it out. After all, it seemed a bit out there and maybe they wouldn't take it seriously.

I heard the door to the chamber opening and the whisper of footsteps headed my direction. I didn't bother to turn as the figure stepped up beside me. There was hesitation in his voice as he said, "My Lord, we were unable to learn the location of the other creature. Your son was able to shield his thoughts in the last second before his death."

My hand clenched into a fist and the glass I was holding shattered. I turned to my minion with a fierce glare of displeasure. There was a heat in my eyes and I could tell by the fear in the face of the man before me that I had made my point.

Beckett bowed and said, "I'm sorry I've failed you. I beg your forgiveness. I will strive to do better next time."

My voice was cold as ice as I replied, "If you fail me again, you will forfeit your life."

"Understood."

A crackling had me turning to the corner of the chamber, where my new pet was even now emerging from his cocoon. I let the smile begging for release free and noticed the horror on Beckett's face as we watched. My smile grew. Ah! I had the other male. I moved my head slightly from side to side and then hissed at the man standing beside me. At his look of horror as he realized the reason he had been summoned here, my smile grew as my eyes gleamed with excitement. I threw back my head and roared with laughter as Beckett went to run from the room.

I let him have his head start and then called to my pet, "Petro! Attack!"

I watched with glee as the creature obeyed its first command and devoured the prey I had brought him. Once he had gorged himself, Petro slithered back to my side and curled into a ball beside me.

.


	17. Deciphering Clues & Making A Plan

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 17: Deciphering Clues & Making A Plan

**Bree's POV:**

I stretched and encountered solid male muscle. I lifted my head to find Lester, lying on his side, facing me, with his head resting on his hand. When our eyes connected, I saw his heat with desire. Smiling, I turned myself so my naked breasts were flush against him. My breathing started to quicken as his head lowered, his mouth covering mine as he pressed me back on the bed. My hands went to caress his chest and back as his hand left a trail of heat everywhere it touched, first heading south before returning to where he'd started.

His tongue slowly traced my lips before sliding inside my mouth to duel with my tongue. His hands were busy creating a heat of their own as he played my body like a finely tuned instrument. He took his time to bring me to fever pitch before entering me. I cried out at the pleasure he was creating. When I finally went over the edge, he was there with me the whole way. My last conscious thought before sleep claimed me was that I was finally where I most wanted to be. Lying in his arms was like coming home.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was alone in the bed. I heard the shower running and smiled. Slipping out of bed, I crept into the bathroom and pulled back the curtain, and screaming as Lester grinned and pulled me into the shower with him. I playfully slapped his chest. "Don't do that again!" I squeaked.

He just pulled me into an embrace and laughed, holding me against his chest.

I looked up with slightly pursed lips. My eyes narrowed as his nipple came into focus. My mouth moved the extra inches it needed to, and I took his flat, brown nipple into my mouth and bit down, using just enough force to get his attention, yet not passing into the realm of pain. The hiss of his indrawn breath told me I'd accomplished my goal.

He leaned down with a wolf grin and asked, "Aren't you the feisty one?"

He placed a hand on either side of my waist and lifted me to the shower wall before sliding himself inside me. I wrapped my legs around his hips and held on for dear life as he taught me the true meaning of the word feisty. By the time we left the shower, we'd used up an inordinately amount of hot water.

We helped each other to dry off, and then it was a race to dress and get down for breakfast before everything was cleared. We made it with seconds to spare, and I had to smile when Stephanie, Ranger, the twins, Hobbit, and the creature joined us a second later. We filled our plates and took our seats.

Stephanie looked as relaxed as I felt. She looked up at me and winked, and I found myself biting my lip so as not to laugh.

Once we got down to eating, I felt Ranger's gaze on us. I noticed that all the others were looking his way as well. His eyes narrowed, then he looked around the table before winking at Stephanie. His voice was filled with authority as he said, "Mandatory meeting after breakfast. Woody and Vince, I want you two watching over Angel and the children. I'll fill you in on the meeting when we're done."

We all acknowledged Ranger's order. As I finished my breakfast, I suddenly knew that this would be the last we'd be able to plan before the battle. I felt the heat from the talisman around my neck and had a strong feeling that we would be engaging the enemy before the day was out.

I felt heat engulfing my hand and turned to see Lester had taken it in his. His eyes were singularly focused on me. I could hear his thoughts inside my own head and was still amazed at the changes that had occurred since our first night together.

It was close to thirty minutes later that we were all taking our seats in the conference room. All eyes were directed to Stephanie and Ranger as they walked in.

**Stephanie's POV:**

Everyone was already seated when Ranger and I joined them. I wondered what kind of information we were going to pull together from our trip to Atlantic City. I was surprised that Diesel hadn't joined us this morning. For some reason, I'd thought he'd want to be read into what we'd found out.

Ranger lost no time in getting the meeting up and running. I watched as he looked around the table at his men and the rest of us sitting there. His eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on Hal and said, "Report!"

Hal straightened in his seat. He flicked a glance in Bella's direction before saying, "We met up with a young man. Although he seemed to run from us, it was like he was just putting on a show. When he finally stopped and we were able to talk to him, he told us that Pen is the salvation of us all. He said that Pen must be protected from Dreamstalker at all costs. Next thing we knew, fireballs were being lobbed our way, and one of them hit the young man. We barely got out of there, and that was only because Bella neutralized the wall of flames by making it rain. We stopped to catch our breaths, and it was like we were being shielded by the building we were standing against. The men chasing us ran past, and when they removed their hoods, I recognized them."

We were interrupted by the ringing of Ranger's phone. He answered with a "Yo." His face darkened as he listened to the caller on the other end. Finally, he said, "Thanks," and disconnected the call. He turned to Hal, as if he already suspected what he was going to be told, and asked, "Who were they?"

Hal glanced at me and took a deep breath before replying, "Bomber's last three stalkers."

There was silence for several seconds, then Ranger said, "That ties in with the phone call I just received. I asked Morelli to do some checking on the three men and see what he could pick up. Seems he and Mary Lou overheard a conversation a few nights ago. Someone was asking questions about Stephanie. When the people realized the tone of the questions, they shut down, but Joe was afraid they might have gotten something useful before that happened."

I looked at him and wondered if he'd planned to tell me. He turned to me with a solemn expression on his face and said, "Not unless it became obvious you needed to know. I wanted to protect you as much as possible."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't get mad at him. He was a warrior who would do what was necessary to protect those he loved. That was one of the things I loved about him, so I wasn't about to give him a hard time about it now, when we had a lot more important things to consider. Instead, I turned to Hal and asked, "Do you have any idea who the young man was that was killed?"

Hal shook his head. "No. Why?"

I pursed my lips slightly as I narrowed my eyes. "Because Pen is the name Sky gave to the little creature she found."

I felt Ranger tense, even though there was no physical contact between us. Everyone in the room was on heightened alert.

Mary Alice started fidgeting.

Raising an eyebrow, Ranger turned in her direction before asking, "What?"

She shrugged. "Well, it might be nothing, but we ran across an old woman in a gypsy tent. She looked like she was about a hundred and fifty, except for her eyes. She told us that Dreamstalker bonded with her so he could hide from the others what he really was. Somehow, all his darkness is transferred to her, making her look the way she does. She had Dreamstalker's son, Garrone, but was banished from the caverns shortly after the baby's birth. Garrone found some strange, ugly looking creatures and took care of them. She said one of the creatures was Dreamstalker's pet, Nosh. He fed the creature one of the bonding crystals, and it went through a metamorphosis and changed shape. When the healer saw the beauty trapped within, it destroyed the evil surrounding him and he was no longer able to survive. The crystal shattered and left behind its secrets on the chip. When Garrone saw what the little one had done for his friend, he decided to release the remaining creature in hopes that she would find it and keep it safe."

Mary Alice frowned before continuing. "She said we need to destroy the crystals in the bonding room. Once they're destroyed, her soul will be free and all the ugliness will revert back to Dreamstalker." She shuddered. "She also said that to fight him, we must traverse the maze of the mind to his location. She gave us a detailed sketch and said, and I quote: 'She has already been there. She will be afraid to return because she knows he will use her fears against her. In order to make the trip, all of you must confront your fears and make peace with them. The first battle will be of the mind. Once you have destroyed the crystals, you must hurry to get back to your consciousness so you will be ready when they attack. When the time is right, the room will pave the way. The house will protect you as long as possible.'

We were all looking at Mary Alice. I had a feeling that she'd just given us a key piece of information.

Bella leaned forward and asked, "Is it possible the young man Hal and I were following was Garrone?"

My spidey sense was telling me it was more than possible. Shit! What kind of monster would order the death of his own child? Before I could voice my thoughts, Bree spoke up.

Her eyes were directed my way as she said, "They're related."

I sent her a puzzled look.

She nodded and replied, "Dreamstalker is the Demon Delies's son."

At that announcement, we were all quiet for several seconds.

Then Bree continued, "When Lester and I were on the Ferris wheel, I knew they were searching for us, but they couldn't find us. I didn't understand it until my father came to talk to me."

A shiver raced down my spine at that piece of news.

She said, "There were some things he showed me that seemed personal, as if they were meant for me alone. But then he told me something that I know affects all of us."

Ranger asked, "Can you tell us what that is?"

She nodded. "The man running the machine was one of Dreamstalker's followers. He let them know both times that we were there. When they couldn't find us and left, he was furious to be denied the opportunity to feed on our fear. The reason we were invisible to them is because Lester and I have linked. They were able to track him once he put on the talisman because we were only two halves of a whole. Once we joined, they could no longer use the necklace to find us. Not only can I read Lester and feel him, but I now have his ability to hide from them. He said that when soul mates connect, it's a beautiful thing, and only then can two people with abilities procreate. Otherwise, the female will drain the male of his abilities. He said there were exceptions to the rule. Stephanie, Julie, and I are second generation, and because of that, we have the ability to mate with anyone." She paused for a moment and then frowned. "The last thing he said was that when the battle is heated, to remember there is no stronger force on Earth than a mother protecting her young. She can single-handedly destroy all comers."

Ranger's eyes narrowed. "So what makes you think Dreamstalker is the Demon's son?"

"It's a vision I got while you were talking about Garrone," she said.

There were a few moments of silence before Micha spoke up. "Our clue had to do with a dead guy that didn't die. Hector shot him and he was dead, but then he turned to us with a smile and said, 'There is no death as long as the crystals hum. They rejuvenate all of us.' Then he melted through the floor. Hector was able to scrape up some of the remains that were left, and we brought them back so we could analyze them."

Cal spoke then. "And we know that Bomber seems to be their main target, for some reason."

I let what the others said float around in my mind. Something was tugging at me, and I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I tried to remember what was so important to remember. Then, as if I could hear the whispers from the conversation I'd had just this morning with Alex, I knew what it was. I turned to the others and said, "The book that Alex found."

Suddenly, every pair of eyes turned to face me, a question on each of their faces.

My eyes went to Ranger. "Alex found a book in some strange language, but he's able to read and understand it. He said the book talks about a stalker of dreams and a creature being freed. For the action of freeing the last one, the keeper paid with his own life, and according to the book, in the hands of the child of light, the creature that was freed is the only one capable of destroying the room of crystals."

There was a knock on the door.

Ranger nodded at Rodriguez, who got up and opened the door. Diesel entered with Angelina and Alex. I was suddenly worried about Sky, but Alex reassured me with a grin and said, "Sky's safe with Hobbit. I had to come and tell you. I finished the book. Then Bones and Erik arrived with Angelina, and the book turned warm against my hand. When I opened the book to the place I'd marked, there was more written there."

My glance went first to Angelina, glad that she was once again well. She stood five foot five, with a build similar to Lula's. However, she wore dresses that fit her, being neither too big or too small for her frame. Her hair was coiled into a messy bun, and she wore no makeup. Her pale copper skin tone made her Native American heritage obvious. She was a pleasant-looking woman and seemed to constantly be smiling. I got the same feeling I'd gotten the first time I'd seen her. There was something oddly familiar about her—other than the fact she was Ella's friend and I'd known her for ten years myself.

Alex handed me the book, and I opened it to the place marked before turning to the last page, where the words ended, and asking, "Do you know what it means?"

As I watched, words were written on the page. My eyes widened and I looked up at the others.

Alex nodded. "We are writing the book with our actions, even now."

Angelina stepped forward. "It's the sequel. The first book is in the library in the sacred cabinet. When this one is complete, it will join the other."

There was silence for several seconds as we adjusted to what we'd just learned.

It was Bree who broke the silence. "I saw the five of you. You were with Diesel, Wulf, Delies, and my father. Even then, Delies was evil."

Angelina looked sad. "Yes. He was."

Bree frowned. "Why didn't you and Diesel ever get together?"

Angelina blushed. "Because he needed his powers to keep Wulf in check."

Bree grinned at her. "Ah! But in the case of soul mates, all bets are off."

Frowning himself, Diesel asked, "What do you mean?"

Bree's eyes were twinkling. "I saw my father—in the spirit world. He told me about Stephanie, Julie, and myself being able to mate with anyone with abilities because we are second generation. But for the rest of you guys, procreating can happen only with your soul mate if you want to keep your abilities."

Angelina's eyes widened. "That's why he convinced you the only way for us to be together would be for you to choose to be selfish instead of serving your people. He lied to both of us to keep us apart."

Diesel looked haunted for a moment.

Ranger frowned and asked, "Who told you that?"

There was sadness on Diesel's face as he replied, "Delies."

Angelina hugged her bag to her. "Who do I have to thank for my things at the hospital?"

Lester spoke up. "I went through your house and picked up what I thought you'd need. Then, when we were searching for clues as to where Bree was, we went through it more thoroughly."

Angelina smiled. "I see you found the necklace on the nightstand."

Frowning, Lester replied, "I found the talisman in the taxi."

Alex broke in with, "That was the work of the spirit. He wanted to make sure Breezy was protected."

Micha, Bree, and I turned to Alex.

I asked, "How do you know that?"

He held up the book. "It's in here."

I looked around at the others. "So what's our plan of action?"

Bree sighed. "We need to destroy the bonding room first, unless I miss my guess. We won't be able to destroy them until the crystals have been demolished."

Bella asked, "Which room though?"

I asked, "What do you mean?"

She replied, "Mary Alice said the room will protect us as long as it can."

Alex's eyes narrowed. "The creature Sky found seems to glow in the great room, but not in the others."

Ranger cleared his throat. "All right. We have an idea of where. Now we just need to figure out when."

Mary Alice spoke up. "First, we each need to deal with our fears. That way they can't be used against us."

Angelina's face lit up. "I have the perfect solution."

We all looked at her expectantly.

She giggled. "The dance of the spirits will free us from all our fears and the sprits will protect us from evil."

Bree exclaimed, "The dance of light!"

Angelina nodded. "That's the other name for it."

Tank said, "Uh…we won't have to wear anything funny, like a loincloth or anything, will we?"

I couldn't help it. The thought of all the guys in loincloths struck me as funny and I started laughing. Apparently, I wasn't alone, because the other girls started laughing as well.

Angelina had a twinkle in her eyes as she said, "As much as I'd love to see you dressed in something like that, no. That won't be necessary."

With that, the meeting ended and we all moved out to join the others.

The minute we reached the great room, I broke into a smile and cried out, "Daddy!"

My father stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, whispering in my ear, "The cavalry is here, pumpkin. Let's go kick some butt."


	18. It Begins

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 18: It Begins

**Stephanie's POV:**

I was thrilled that my dad had come to join the party. My eyes widened as I saw all the people that had joined him. I leaned back in his arms to ask, "Did you bring all of Trenton?"

"Only the half that we need. The rest are in the protected Rangeman building. I'm not sure who that group over there are."

I looked over to the group he'd indicated and was surprised to see that Milo and Jace had gone over to talk with them. I put my hand in the crook of my dad's arm and said, "Come on. Let's go see what they're doing here."

As we drew closer, Dad turned to me and whispered, "They're speaking Russian."

I nodded as I replied, "I've heard Ranger speak it enough over the years that I can recognize it, even if I still don't understand it."

Dad patted my hand. When we stepped up to the group, the talking stopped. I let my gaze run around the group, finally coming to a stop on Milo. I smiled and heard him groan.

He lowered his head and then, after a second, shook it before lifting it once again. "Stephanie, these are the Russmonauts."

Both Dad and I raised an eyebrow. I looked once more at the men standing there, now trying to keep themselves from laughing. Giving up on figuring out what was going on, I decided to just come right out and ask. "So, what's a Russmonaut?"

The guys lost their fight with trying not to laugh.

Jace's eyes were twinkling as he said, "They were in the same Seal group that Milo and I were in. We were given the name when none of the other Seal teams could crack our codes."

Ranger joined us at that moment, his hand resting at my waist as he said, "The mix of Cosmonaut and Astronaut, Russian, and Navaho?"

I couldn't help but notice the look of stunned surprise on the group's faces. I laughed as I leaned in to Ranger. "You didn't tell your friends about the man you work for, Jace?"

About that time, Julie joined our group as well. I saw the way Jace's eyes went to her the second she was near. After a moment, he seemed to shake himself out of whatever trance he'd gotten caught in and then turned to me with a frown. "I told them who I work for."

One of the men—easily six feet tall, with red hair, bright green eyes, and a Scottish accent—said, "That's right. He told us he works for a security expert that started a company called Rangeman."

I felt Ranger's body shake with suppressed laughter. I didn't need to look at him to know his eyes were twinkling with the mirth as well. He held out his hand. "I'm Ranger Manoso—Army Ranger, retired."

The redhead shook Ranger's hand, and when understanding dawned, there was awe in his eyes. "Damn. Jace, you didn't tell us you were working for_ the _Ranger. No wonder he was able to understand what we were saying."

Jace had a strange look on his face, as if something had just occurred to him that he wasn't aware of before. He turned to Ranger and shook his head. "I don't recall that information being imparted when I was hired."

Ranger smiled his full two hundred-watt smile and replied, "We've gotten away from advertising that I'm a retired Army Ranger."

Jace looked between Julie and Ranger. There was an uh-oh look on his face, and I could tell he was thinking how Ranger would react if he were to date Julie.

Julie took a step forward. "Why are they here and what made them choose now to come here?"

Jace winked at Julie before he indicated the redhead and told her, "Captain here is the person I called when we were in Atlantic City."

I saw Julie's eyes light with understanding. She turned to Ranger and said, "We were being followed. Jace and I switched the table on them and were able to follow them. There was a guy on a motorcycle that nearly ran us over, and then the two we were following got into a car with another man. We recognized the driver as the guy who took me to the prom my senior year. Jace made a call and apparently, it was to one of these guys. I didn't know what language they were speaking, only that I didn't understand a word of it."

Captain added, "When Jace called and said it was time to circle the wagons, we knew the forces we'd been tracking the past several years were getting ready to, or had started to, attack. I called the team together, and here we are."

Ranger nodded. "I'm sure you'll have a chance to engage the enemy. There are a few things we have to get through first."

Captain nodded. "Just tell us what you want us doing. We're at your disposal."

Dad leaned down and whispered that he was going to talk a bit longer with the gentlemen as he patted my hand. I squeezed his hand in acknowledgement before Ranger and I stepped away. There was still a large group of people that I didn't recognize. As we made our way to the next group, Bree came over from across the room to join them as well.

We stopped beside Bree as she looked at the one man in particular and asked, "Why did you place the picture in the file without telling anyone?"

The unearthly pale man with glossy, shoulder-length black hair smiled sardonically at her and replied, "I couldn't make it too easy for you."

Just then, Diesel spoke up from behind us. "What are you doing here, Wulf?"

Wulf's eyes took on a gleam. When I turned in the direction he was looking, I saw Angelina. He bowed slightly. "I came to assist. It's the least I could do for Raine." His eyes went to Bree. "I will protect what's precious to him."

Diesel asked, "Why would you do that?"

Bree spoke up before Wulf had the chance. "Because my father always believed in him."

Wulf bowed. "That he did." He indicated the group around him. "These are unmentionables as well. They too skirt the edge."

Bree looked around at them all. "Thank you all for coming."

The sudden stream of sunlight in the room made me turn and look around. Sky had Pen in her arms and Hobbit on one side, with Alex on the other. They were making their way over to where we were. I couldn't help but smile as I watched my babies.

When they stopped beside us, Sky looked up at Wulf with wide eyes and asked, "Are you the one that has promised to protect Bree?"

I watched the emotions in Wulf's eyes as he looked at Sky. There was a gentleness that was unlike anything I'd seen before. His gaze moved to Hobbit and then briefly to Bree before moving back to Sky. He knelt down in front of my little girl and bowed his head. "I have come to protect the child of goodness as well as the daughter of Raine. I pledge the allegiance of myself and those I've brought with me."

Sky's laughter rippled over all those joined. She turned to Hobbit and said, "Hobbit, make him a knight, please."

Hobbit stepped forward and drew his sword. He mumbled something in some strange language and then lightly brought his sword down on each of Wulf's shoulders. There was clapping from the rest of the group, and they all wore smiles, as if watching a favored child play pretend.

There was still one more group that we hadn't gotten to. Rodriguez was standing with this group, as were the rest of the guys from Rangeman. When Ranger and I stopped beside them, I had the sudden feeling that this had something to do with the encrypted message Rodriguez had sent me.

Sure enough, my partner grinned and said, "Hey, Steph. This is the group I put in charge of the skips after our conversation. Seems there were a few real bad apples in the files—they were all related to that message I sent you."

"The one Hector had to decode?"

Rodriguez smiled. "That's the one."

"So what did these guys do that the regular guys wouldn't have done?"

A big bear of a guy stepped forward. He had to be close to seven feet tall, with snarled brown hair and pale gray eyes in a pock-marked face. He grinned, showing the few teeth he still had remaining in his mouth, and said, "We're the kick-arse team. When they throw their little grenades and bombs at us, we just walk through them, absorbing the impact while we keep going. We're freaks of nature, and until we ran into Rodriguez, we had no purpose left. We were just waiting for our time to pass so we could move on to the next plane of existence. Damn government experiments."

I frowned at that before asking, "What do you mean?"

Another man who looked eerily like the first replied, "They genetically engineered us. Cloned us from 'sources unknown' and added 'unknowns' to our DNA. Even they didn't know what they were creating."

I reached out my hand as I said, "We're glad to have you on our team."

He looked thunderstruck as I shook his hand, as if human contact was something he'd learned to live without. After a few minutes, we excused ourselves and made our way back to where our group was now gathered. I sat in the last seat on the sofa beside Bree, and Ranger stood beside Lester behind us. Angelina was seated on the other side of Bree and was looking at the younger woman strangely.

Bree reached out and placed her hand on mine as she leaned into me a bit, saying, "Angelina is my aunt. She and my father were twins."

I bit my lip at her explanation.

Angelina nodded. "Yes. I've been hiding that fact from everyone to protect Bree. Now that she is linked with her young man, it's safe for me to acknowledge our connection. It's time to prepare the Golden Ones for the battle to come. We must perform the Dance of Light so you can discard your fears and render Dreamstalker harmless in this first battle in the mind."

I looked around anxiously. "What do we need to do?"

Angelina smiled. "You must relax. I will lead you in the dance, and you must allow all your fears to be released."

All of a sudden, the sofa was being pulled backward, and I turned to see the men from Rodriguez's group moving us. The middle of the room was cleared, and then we were encouraged to make a circle. Angelina led us in a Native American dance as she chanted in her native tongue.

**Bree's POV:**

Angelina started to dance, and the rest of us followed along. Soon, she began pointing at each of us and then to the floor, until we were seated in an oval around her. Once we were all seated, Angelina moved her feathered stick to tap us on each shoulder as she chanted. She spoke in her native Lakota language as she told us to release our fears. The moment she touched my shoulder, I felt a lightness from within. I knew her words were having the desired effect.

My eyes closed and I felt a shifting in the room. I knew the others were moving to stand behind us. The first ring around us faced to the middle of the circle, while the the next ring stood with their backs to those in the first. My hand reached out to Les and I felt his hand wrap around mine. Micha was on my other side, and I felt his strength and energy mixed with Hector's wrap around me. I knew Sky was between Ranger and Stephanie, with Hobbit between her and Alex.

There was a cool breeze running through the room, and I knew it was time. Angelina stopped chanting, and I felt my spirit leave my physical body and stand, ready for the first part of the battle.

I opened my eyes and looked around at those gathered around me with their eyes closed. I told them, _It's time._

I waited for them to open their eyes, and then they stood beside me. Lester took hold of my hand. I could see our bodies sitting in the circle as our spiritual essence stepped toward a portal with immense light coming from it. I led the group through the portal and toward the enemy's camp.

It was eerily quiet as we slowly made our way through the maze toward the bonding room. We'd been traveling through the caverns for nearly twenty minutes when voices were finally heard. I stopped and moved against the wall as the voices grew closer.

Just when I thought it was safe to move forward, Lester held me in place where I was, holding a finger in front of his mouth. Sure enough, just seconds later, several black-hooded figures ran by. I waited an additional minute before I slowly moved forward again. It took us another twenty minutes to traverse the passages to reach the room we needed.

Once we'd reached the entrance, I placed my hand on the rock blocking the entrance. I turned to the others and told them, _This is the bonding room. We need to remove the rock, but we must beware of the creature on the other side. It has metamorphosed._

Tank moved up beside me and placed both his hands on the rock. He looked to the rest of the guys, and by silent agreement, they moved into position to protect us. Once he was okay with where everyone was standing, he used his incredible strength to move the rock from in front of the doorway.

We stood there for a couple of seconds, and then I started to move forward. Ranger placed a hand on my shoulder and shook his head. He stepped through the doorway, clearly taking the lead. The rest of us followed behind him.

The room we stepped into was huge. There were crystals everywhere, shimmering in various colors. In the middle of the room was a large rock-like structure, which stood about five feet tall, with steps leading up to the area and a kneeling spot on either side of the rock. There was a massive crystal in the middle of the rock.

We'd no more than gotten into the room when suddenly, there was a boom, as rock hit rock, and we were closed inside the room as the sound of something slithering toward us was heard. We closed ranks and I felt the guys moving in closer to us as the lights from the crystals dimmed. There was a flicker, as if the crystals were trying to dim their light even more but were in a struggle with some unknown force. Unexpectedly, the lighting in the room became almost brilliant, and there was an inhuman cry coming from the creature that we could now see was wrapped around the base of the bonding crystal.

There was the sound of footsteps, and we were joined by the same man I'd seen the last time I was here. I knew this was Dreamstalker. He stepped up on the platform with the creature, and the smile on his face was the thing nightmares were made of: pure evil. His eyes ran over us and then he spoke. _So nice of you to join me here and make it easy for me._

Ranger placed himself slightly in front of us. _I don't think it will be as easy as you think._

Dreamstalker threw his head back and laughed cruelly. _You aren't even the man you think you are. You had your abilities when you fought my father, but now, you are a weak man that has been drained of your strength._

I fought the normal reaction of letting my eyes widen. I found it incredible that this evil creature in front of us assumed that Ranger lost his abilities. I felt the buzz from the rest as they hid their thoughts on this as well.

Ranger smiled. It was the smile he'd given the demon Delies, the Fallen One, and the Beast. The smile he showed to all his enemies. _Are you sure you have your facts straight?_

Dreamstalker laughed harshly. _I know my father was furious he couldn't have the woman he wanted. When he asked for her hand, she denied him. Told him she was in love with someone else. Well, she didn't have a happy life with her love. He made sure of that. He was able to keep his brother from getting her too by injecting her with the serum. He had to make do with that Indian whore that was always chasing him when he was a child. Once he impregnated her, he left to do what was necessary. _

I stepped up beside Ranger as he said, _Apparently, your information isn't totally accurate._

Dreamstalker snarled and flame shot from his hand toward where we were standing. Bella started moving her hands, and a wall of water appeared in front of us. You could hear the hiss as the flame hit water. There was a roar of rage and then we were being bombarded by shooting flames.

Bella continued moving her hands in the raining motion as Mary Alice weaved her hands in the air, causing a sphere with a flame in the middle to appear. She continued the motions as the sphere grew bigger. Beside her, Julie stepped forward and moved her forefinger in a circular motion till there was a spinning funnel on the tip of her finger. I felt the electrical energy emitting from the crystals.

Dreamstalker's eyes narrowed on us, and it was like he knew what we were planning. The girls timed the attack perfectly in that split second before he could act, and he was engulfed in the force of the wind, flames, and rain inside the sphere.

While he fought to free himself, I let the others know, _We need to hurry. We must destroy the crystals in this room._

The creature wrapped around the boulder rose up, as if ready to attack. Sky rushed forward before anyone could stop her. The snake-like being lunged toward her, and the whole room shook with Stephanie's, _NO!_

The being disintegrated into a million pieces as Stephanie rushed forward to protect Sky, who nearly dropped Pen. Fortunately, Alex was there to catch the little animal. When he held Pen protectively in his arms, there was intense light in the room, and Pen screeched with enormous intensity that had us covering our ears as the sounds of shattering glass was heard. When the light diminished and the sound ended, we were able to look around and see that all the crystals in the room were in pieces. Even the enormous one in the middle of the room was no longer in one piece.

There was an incredible cry of rage, and we turned to see Dreamstalker break out of the sphere. Instead of an evil-looking man in his mid-thirties, there was a hideous being. He turned to us with a red-eyed glare and snarled, _I will destroy you all!_

We turned and hauled ass to get back to the room where our bodies were. The attack was coming, and we had a limited amount of time to reclaim our physical beings.


	19. The Battle Ensues

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 19: The Battle Ensues

**Ranger's POV:**

All hell broke loose. It was time to get back to the house. I took up the lead, with Steph right behind me. Alex still had Pen from before, and Tank was carrying him as well as Sky—in a football hold under the arm—to enable us to move faster. Cal and Ram were bringing up the rear of the group. Where on the way in, we were able to come in under the radar, it was obvious the minute we ran through the doorway that we weren't going to get out the same way. It had blown to pieces when the crystals went.

When we stepped into the passageway, there were fireballs heading our way. We had to dodge and weave our way through the maze that was the pathway back to the portal we needed to get back to the castle.

We were nearly to the spot that would take us back across when I felt Bree's warning in my mind. _Ranger! We can't go that way. They're waiting for us with everything they have. There's too many to fight them this way. _

I stopped and looked around before my gaze fell on the men at the end of the line. _Ram! We need an alternate route._

_Yo!_ was his only reply.

We waited for a few seconds, then I heard, _I'll be damned! Got our new path. I need to lead so I can get us past the traps._

I nodded. _Understood. Move out!_

For nearly an hour, we carefully followed his lead. Several of the traps had already been sprung, and there were dead bodies beside or even still trapped in them. I noticed a change in the lighting, and there were voices chanting from above us.

Suddenly, a fireball hit the wall centimeters from where I was standing.

We moved to get out of the line of fire, and I heard Cal swearing at the same time thoughts from Ram were coming through.

_Ranger! The door's jammed. It's going to take me a few minutes to get it open._

I turned to Tank even as I thought, _Understood._

My eyes locked on Tank, and he nodded. He took off toward where Ram was as I turned to Stephanie.

_I need you to take the twins and the girls up with Ram and Tank. I want all of you to be the first ones through the door._

Her eyes narrowed and I could see the fight she was having, whether she would stay with me or go with her children and make sure they were safe. Her hands clenched, and I heard her thoughts as clearly as if she'd spoken. _Don't you dare get shot, Batman. I want you in one piece._

I grinned as I leaned down to give her a quick kiss. _Don't go crazy, Babe._

Once they'd moved to the front, I turned to the guys still with me and knew by the looks on their faces we were all on the same page. Lester, Rodriguez, Hector, Micha, Binkie, Bobby, Vince, Bones, Erik and I were going to take the fight to them until Tank, Ram, and Cal could get us through the door leading to the castle. As on any mission, our arms extended and we bumped fists as the thought, _Hoorah!_ echoed around us.

Before we got a few steps from the group, another fireball went racing for the direction where the others were. We had to find these guys and fast before they got lucky and hit one of us. Suddenly, a body stepped out in front of us and another fireball headed directly for us. We managed to dodge it by diving into a side room. I divided the group and we moved out.

Lester had Hector, Binkie, Bobby, and Erik. I took Rodriguez, Micha, Vince, and Bones, and we went the opposite direction. By hugging the walls and moving in the search-and-destroy pattern we used when going through an enemy village, we made short work of taking out the ones who were hitting us with the firebombs.

Once we'd completed our mission, we headed back to the rest of the group. We were nearly at the point where we split up, when I heard a volley of gunfire. We double-timed in to the spot where the sounds were coming and found Lester and his group in the middle of an intense battle.

One serious problem with not bringing our bodies along on this little trip? All our weapons were back at the castle. I looked at my team and saw the conviction in their eyes. It wouldn't be the first time we were unarmed and outnumbered. I held up a finger, then a second. When I held up the third finger, we moved out. Like the stealth soldiers we were, we crept up behind the enemy and took them out, using their own weapons to help our people they had pinned down. I took out the last one and called for the all-clear signal. After several seconds, it was given, and our groups joined so we could get the hell out of there and back to the others.

At a guess, I'd say we'd been gone for no more than twenty minutes. Tank was at the door, still using all his strength to get us through to the other side. I frowned. _What the hell's on the other side?_

Ram gave me a sheepish look. _I wanted to make it hard for them to get through. I moved the heavy freezers in front of the door._

I could see Stephanie rolling her eyes at Ram's statement and couldn't help the half smile that slipped out. I was about to suggest finding another path, when I noticed the look on Bree's face. Her eyes were unfocused and I knew she was having a vision of some kind. Just as the thought occurred, her eyes cleared and she placed a hand on Tank's arm.

She looked our direction. _Les, I need your help. We need to open the portal here so we can get through._

Lester moved toward her even as he was thinking, _How the hell are we going to do that?_

I nearly laughed when she rolled her eyes. She sent a glare my way before moving her talisman from beneath her shirt and motioning for Les to follow suit. Once he had done so, she started chanting in the Lakota language of her ancestors as she held her talisman as well as Lester toward the door.

As we watched, a small vortex formed. It seemed as if we were all looking down into the middle of a tornado as it spun in its circular motion. Suddenly, it was as if a pool of water formed in the middle of the door.

Bree stepped back and nodded. _We need to hurry and go through. They're on the way. Whatever you guys did back there pissed them off royally. Dreamstalker has reached the full potential of his evil power. _

I nodded. _Tank, you and Ram go first. _

They were immediately on the move, stepping into the water-like portal. When they disappeared, I wondered if they'd made it safely back to the castle, and then I heard Tank's, _Yo! We're in the kitchen. Come on through._

With that, I got the others going through until I was the last one to step into the portal. I had one leg through and was getting ready to step in completely, when there was a roar of rage and a fireball was lobbed my way. I lost no time in diving through to the other side. I rolled on the floor, and when I stood up, it was to see Tank, Ram, and Cal pushing the first portal so it was directly in front of the one we'd just come through. I stood and moved out of the way so they could get it into position.

I stood watching for a moment until Tank glanced over at me. _You need to get back into your body so you're ready when they come. It takes a few minutes before you're able to stand and walk, and we need all of you at peak level. _

I became aware of the fact that the three guys were back in their own bodies and raised a hand before turning and moving us through to the great room.

Donella was standing at the stove, stirring something in a pot. She looked up at us as we were moving through the kitchen and said, "You must move quickly. They are coming."

I nodded and we moved through to the great room. Hobbit was standing with his arms out. He moved quickly out of the way, and we were able to reach the center. Everyone made it to their own body and we were sitting down into our own body as we heard the first sounds that our enemies were nearing.

**Bree's POV:**

Once I sat down into my body, I felt the instant melding of physical and spiritual. Angelina started chanting, and I felt the bonding of body and soul as I grew stronger. Angelina had no more than gotten done with her chant when an inhuman roar could be heard coming from the kitchen. My eyes opened and I saw the others seated were opening their eyes as well. We each stood and moved, ready to act if we were needed.

Ranger, Les, Stephanie, and I were the first ones in the kitchen as Dreamstalker broke through the portal I had created. He lifted his head and roared in rage as more of his followers followed. They were crowding him, and he seemed to lose his balance and fell sideways into the other portal. The others followed him blindly, not realizing he hadn't planned on going through the second one.

I turned to Tank. "Put them so they're touching."

Tank did as I'd asked.

Angelina joined us and smiled. "Excellent."

She moved closer to the two gateways and started chanting as she tossed herbs and some shimmery substance that turned into chains as it landed on the two openings. When she was done, they were chained together. We didn't have time to rejoice because the front door and the sliding glass doors were thrown open and black-hooded figures streamed into the house.

Ranger's eyes took on a dangerous light, as did the rest of the guys', as the physical battle was underway.

This battle was different from the last one, in that Dreamstalker's followers didn't have the abilities the groups of the past had. For them, it was all about hand-to-hand combat. It was easy to see why Ranger was the go-to for missions. Watching him and the others work at taking out the enemy was quite a sight. If I'd thought they were fierce when they took out Tex and the others ten years ago, that was nothing to what I was seeing now.

Three men went after Tank. He had two of them by their necks, holding them up in the air as he fended of the third one with martial arts kicks. It was as if he were playing with them. If I didn't know he was on my side, the smile on his face would have me wetting my pants. He wasn't the only one.

Hector was crouched with a wicked-looking knife in each hand as he danced around with five of Dreamstalker's followers. Every time they made a lunge for him, he whipped one of the knives so that it sliced into one of them. Even outnumbered, my money was on Hector.

Cal was in a no-holds-barred wrestling match with two beefy figures in black hoods. He was using his fists in pugilistic moves that made Mohammad Ali look like a rank amateur.

Rodriguez was doing his Chuck Norris imitation and making the actor look like a beginner as he took on three of the enemy as well. I'd never seen so many well-executed roundhouse kicks at one time. The crunch of bone meeting immovable object and breaking was rampant in the room.

Not to be outdone, Hal and Binkie were tag-teaming a group of four men, as Vince and Ram each took on a group of seven. Woody was not only protecting us, but he was getting in a few jabs of his own whenever someone came within reach.

Bobby was using his medical knowledge to advantage in rendering the three men engaging him out of commission.

I was anxiously watching both Micha and Lester. I knew they were both excellent warriors, but that didn't relieve my stress.

Micha was working hard at teaching the three guys he was surrounded by a lesson in taking turns. When they got greedy and tried to have an extra turn, he made sure they paid triple in pain for their efforts. I supposed his military training paid off. He didn't even look like he was working hard.

Lester was surrounded by four men, and they were slightly scarier-looking than the others. These guys actually looked like they might know what they were doing, but Lester made it look easy. They were doing a weave as Lester schooled them in the art of taking out your enemy.

Then there was Ranger. I knew Stephanie had to be every bit as anxious about Ranger as I was about Les and Micha. I felt her hand on my arm and knew she was reaching out to reassure me that the guys would be just fine.

As we watched, another hooded figure joined the six men already circling Ranger. Faster than lightning, he struck out and three men were down. Another moved in, and he had him screaming in pain.

Jace, Milo, and the Russmonauts were engaging a larger group, led by Hobbit. They were in a sword fight, much like Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. I looked at Stephanie and we grinned. Her eyes were twinkling at the memory of when she'd dubbed the guys at Rangeman as the Merry Men.

Suddenly, Sky's scream rent the air. We turned. It was as if it were happening in slow motion. When we turned, Dreamstalker—who had finally been able to find another way into the castle—was beside Sky and there was a gleam in his eyes as he reached for her. All hell broke loose as the hooded figures went to work at keeping the guys from getting to her. Even Hobbit was being held at bay. It was as if this whole thing had been a trap to divert everyone's attention so it was focused elsewhere, enabling the Dreamstalker to reach his ultimate goal.

Sky clutched Pen to her as I moved to go to her. Stephanie's last three stalkers, Julie's prom date, Bella's and Mary Alice's classmate, my neighbor from South Dakota, as well as several of the other men from the file Stephanie had put together moved between us and Sky.

I saw Alex moving closer to his sister, but suddenly, Dreamstalker turned and sent a fireball at Alex. He was able to dodge it, and Woody grabbed him before he could make another attempt to get to Sky. In answer to that, Alex glared, clenching his hands into fists, and the lights went out. There was more screaming and a roaring screech, like what we'd heard in the bonding chamber when Pen destroyed the crystals.

The room lightened, and I stood there looking at the hideous creature that Dreamstalker had become as he reached out a claw-like hand to Sky as well as Alex. It seemed like Alex had used the distraction of the lights going out to get away from Woody and get to his sister.

The look on Stephanie's face was heartbreaking. I could see all the emotions she was feeling on her face. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed into her best 'Burg-girl glare and she took a forceful step forward. A blank face I had no clue she even knew how to make slammed down over her face, and her voice was deadly soft as she spoke. "You will leave my children alone."

Dreamstalker threw his head back and laughed at her. His voice was a cross between a hiss and sandpaper as he said, "You can't stop me. You are a weakling female and have no power over me."

Stephanie smiled. If I'd thought the guys had scary smiles, I was wrong. None of them compared to the scope of the smile I was seeing now. She said, "You're wrong. I'm a mother protecting her young. One thing you should know about a mother. When it comes to protecting her young, she can defeat any monster—no matter how strong that monster is."

He narrowed his eyes and licked his lips as he looked over Sky. "By all means, I will let her watch me destroy you so she knows there will be no one to help her." His gaze went to the rest of us. "I will destroy you all, and then once I have enjoyed her, I shall rip out her heart as well."

I saw Sky's fear. She had never encountered a being that had no redeeming qualities. There was nothing good to see in Dreamstalker. I tried to send her comfort, but it was deflected back at me like a slap.

Stephanie moved forward. Her breathing was more rapid than usual, as if Ranger had talked her into a five-mile run. She stopped when she was within touching distance of Dreamstalker. I knew what she was doing. She was hoping that one of us would get to Sky and Alex while she was keeping him busy. Suddenly, Alex's gaze drew mine and I lifted an eyebrow in question. He nodded to the cabinet against the wall. I squinted, trying to get a clearer picture of what he was trying to show me. All I could see was an antique-looking book. Suddenly, I had a memory of something that had been said. My eyes widened, and then I turned to Stephanie, closed my eyes and, with everything in me, sent the message I wanted to convey.

When I opened my eyes, I knew from the way Stephanie was standing that she'd heard me. She lifted her head and narrowed her eyes. Dreamstalker suddenly grabbed a handful of Sky's hair and pulled, causing her to cry out. Suddenly, shards of ice were being directed toward Dreamstalker. He waved his hand in front of him and they disappeared. Suddenly, his face turned red and his hands went to his genital area.

Hobbit chuckled. "You don't want to piss her off. She's lethal."

Dreamstalker's eyes turned red and he snarled before closing in on Sky. Stephanie lost no time, and whatever thought she had in her mind was definitely lethal for him. There was a look of horror in his eyes. Stephanie's face took on an even fiercer look, and then Dreamstalker was lifting his head and screaming in agonizing pain.

There was commotion from all around. I took my gaze off Stephanie and the twins long enough to look around. I was able to see that all the guys had disposed of the enemy forces that had engaged them and were now coming to join us.

I turned back in time to hear Stephanie mumble, "Enough. It's time for you to be no more."

Right before our eyes, Dreamstalker was engulfed in flames and burst apart into a million pieces. His minions all joined him as they too were destroyed with a single thought.

Stephanie hurried to her babies and wrapped them both tight in her arms.

Alex nudged her. "Mom, we need to get out of here."

I felt the vibrations as well and turned to the others to warn, "We need to get out of the house."

Ranger nodded. He moved forward and placed a hand on Steph's shoulder. "We need to leave, Babe."

Making sure she had a hand in each of hers, she straightened before heading toward the door. The rest of us were right behind her. Once we'd cleared the house, Diesel popped in, with Wulf beside him. The last person had no sooner left the house then the earth shook and once again, the castle was sucked into a giant sinkhole before the hole closed up, as if there'd never been anything there to begin with.

A giant fin slapped at the ocean a short distance out. We turned to watch the fin rise once again before dropping on the surface of the water with a huge boom. It splintered into a million pieces as the ground opened up, sucking that part of the ocean into the same hole where the castle had disappeared.


	20. Dreams Become Reality

**Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers, and I am only borrowing them. There are some original characters that are mine, and I claim them as mine. **

_**Spoilers:**_Anything from books 1-19 might be used, so if you haven't read them all, you might want to wait to read this story.

**This is an AU story with a mix of characters in canon as well. **

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who review as guest as well as those of you who don't allow PMs. I love the reviews and want to tell you that I read and appreciate them all. Thank you all. Special thanks to JenRar for coming along as Beta on this one. I appreciate all your help.

Chapter 20: Dreams Become Reality

_One year later…_

**Bree's POV:**

It was a gorgeous day, as if even the elements felt the joy in our hearts. Everything had gone off without a hitch, and now here we were. The room was beautifully done in shades of gold. It was romantic, the way it was set up. Red roses on all the tables, with white satin tablecloths… Soft strains of a hauntingly beautiful song filtered through. There was an overpowering sense of love everywhere in the room. There'd been shouts of congratulations when we'd entered. My new husband turned to me and held out his hand. I placed my hand in his, and we moved together to the soft strains of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" by Elton John. My eyes closed for a moment as I laid my head against his chest, and when I looked up again, the love as we stared deep into the other's eyes was palpable to those watching us.

Lester grinned before leaning down and whispering into my ear. "Is it everything you wanted, Chula?"

I looked up into Les's twinkling eyes and let the smile on my face widen. "It's everything I knew it would be. I've dreamed this my whole life, but I could never see the grooms face until now. When you joined us in Point Pleasant, I had this vision again as I sat waiting for you guys to eat. It felt so real. That was the first time I'd had the feeling like I knew the groom."

His lips met mine and I moaned as he deepened the kiss. "When I was in South Dakota, I had this same dream sitting beside Angelina's hospital bed," he said when we broke for air.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he twirled me around the dance floor in our first dance as man and wife. As he moved me around the floor, my thoughts went back over the last year of our lives.

ooOOOooOOOooOOOooOOOoo

Once the house and whatever had been in the ocean were drawn into the sinkhole that had opened for the sole purpose of taking all the evil with it into another realm, we had made our way back to Trenton. Sally Sweet gave us another wild ride in the limo.

Tango, Hobbit, and Pen joined us this time, and to say they were less than thrilled was an understatement. Each one took their turn paying Sally back for his less-than-stellar driving. Tango did what came naturally and bit Sally's ankle. The way he carried on, you'd have thought his foot had been torn from his body. Pen let out a screech that burst all the windows in the limo, and Hobbit used his sword to let the air out of all the tires.

I spent a week at Lester's apartment at Rangeman before making the trip back to South Dakota. I wanted to pack up my things and say goodbye to all my friends. Until Lester got into the driver's seat, I didn't know that that he'd arranged some time off so he could go with me. I was secretly very happy to be able to spend the time alone with him on the trip out and back. We decided to drive rather than fly because it would be easier to pack my things into a SUV than to ship what wouldn't fit on the plane. I didn't want to take Ranger's plane in case it was needed.

We stopped at a truck stop outside Gary, Indiana, and Lester told me about a vision he'd seen when he looked in the men's room mirror. He'd seen me surrounded by Dreamstalker and his followers, only it wasn't the version we'd seen at the end, after the crystals had been destroyed. Both he and Vince had seen what might be if they'd failed to reach me in time. We stepped into the bathroom together, once he'd made sure the coast was clear. He looked in the mirror and was relieved to see himself looking back. Then we looked in the mirror together with the same result.

When we arrived in Rapid City, Lester drove us to my apartment building. I stopped in to talk to Dotty, the neighbor I'd called and asked to take care of Tango. She was sad that we'd left him in Trenton, but was happy to know he was just fine. We talked about Thomas, the neighbor that had been one of Dreamstalker's followers. Looking back, we wondered why we hadn't known sooner that he was mixed up with evil. He was always hurting the stray animals that came around, and a couple of times, I'd caught him with his hand on my doorknob. Tango had been very agitated when I'd gone inside the apartment.

Once we left Dotty, I led Les to my place. While I packed the remainder of my clothes and other treasures that I wanted to take, he looked around and started boxing the rest of my things up. It didn't take long to pack up three years' worth of memorabilia.

Stacking the last of the boxes beside the door, I turned to Les and smiled. "It doesn't seem like much, does it?"

He looked around. "You've gathered more in three years than I have in a lifetime. Is there anywhere else you need to go?"

I shook my head. "Not here. I do want to visit the reservation, though."

He nodded. "All right, Chula. Let's get this stuff loaded and we'll head out there."

It was late afternoon when we made it to Angelina's house. Ranger had arranged for her to be driven home a few days ago. When we pulled up, she was on the front porch and seemed to be waiting for our arrival. When we joined her on the porch, she smiled and said, "So you finally come to see me, eh?"

I grinned and wrapped my arms around her to give her a hug. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled and patted my cheek. "I'm fine chincá."

I leaned back to study her and realized she was speaking the truth. She looked happier than I'd ever seen her. The squeak of the door had me turning to see Diesel stepping out onto the porch, and my gaze flew back to Angelina. She blushed, which made me smile even wider as I whispered, "I'm so happy for you. You deserve happiness."

She gave me a tight squeeze and said, "Thank you. I just wish we'd known all these years…"

Diesel placed a hand on her shoulder and gently said, "No regrets, Lina. We are together now, and I plan to make sure we have many happy years together."

She nodded.

We stepped back and Diesel gave Lester a serious look. "You and I need to have a talk, though. I need to know your intentions toward my Goddaughter."

Lester wrapped his arm around my waist as he smiled at Diesel. "I intend to love her."

"Does that mean you two are planning to get married?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "We just got together. Let us take this one step at a time."

Diesel's eyes narrowed for several minutes and then he nodded. "All right. But I'll be watching."

We spent the night at Angelina's. I slept in my old bedroom, while Lester was shown to the room in the barn. I had a terrible time trying to get to sleep. I'd gotten used to having Lester beside me, and now that he wasn't, I found I wasn't able to settle. I finally climbed out of bed and wrapped my robe around my body before making my way out to the kitchen. I was hoping a piece of Angelina's chocolate layered cake would do the trick and help me to fall asleep.

The minute I entered the room, I knew he was there. He wrapped his arm around me from behind and lowered his mouth to my throat. I closed my eyes and moaned with the pleasure just being near him brought me.

Lester's voice was lower than a whisper as he said, "Shh. We have to be quiet or they'll hear us."

He lifted me in his arms and turned to carry me back to my room. Once we'd walked through the door, Lester set me down and turned to shut the door, when the light went on. Diesel was standing there with a raised eyebrow.

Lester gave me a resigned look and whispered, "I guess I'll see you in the morning."

I sighed and leaned my forehead against his chest. He kissed me gently before slowly turning and heading back to his room.

I glared at Diesel and pointed to the doorway to let him know I expected him to leave. My eyes narrowed as I watched him leave, and then I had a sudden thought. I smiled as the thought took shape. It was only another minute before I heard him swearing. Then, as if he realized what was behind him not being able to get into the room, I watched as he turned and glared at me. He stalked to the front door and slammed his way out of the house. I lifted my head and smiled even wider.

Angelina asked, _Now why did you want to go and do a thing like that? I've become used to sleeping with him, and I'm not sure I can get to sleep on my own._

I answered, _Because he made Lester go back out to the barn, and I'm so used to having Lester beside me in bed, I can't get to sleep._

She laughed. _I'll meet you in the kitchen._

We spent the rest of the night baking for breakfast. As we baked, Angelina regaled me with tales of her childhood and allowed me a glimpse of my father through her eyes.

ooOOOooOOOooOOOooOOOoo

My thoughts were brought back to the present as I felt Lester stop in the middle of the song.

Hector stood there glaring at him. "You've had her to yourself long enough. I want to dance with my little sister."

Lester reluctantly allowed Hector to cut in. I felt his eyes on us as Hector led me around the room. Hector's eyes softened on me. "You are a beautiful bride, little one."

I kissed the tear drop under his eye and said, "Thank you."

I felt Hector's body shake with laughter. "You realize if people see you doing that, it'll ruin my image of a bad-ass ex-gangbanger."

I rolled my eyes, "I thought that image was ruined years ago when you and Micha went with us to take Sky and Alex trick-or-treating when they were babies."

The whisper of laughter joined the shaking shoulders and chest. He didn't miss a beat as he led me around the dance floor, and when the song ended, we were standing in front of Micha. Hector held my hand out for Micha to take hold as "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle was played. I couldn't help the tear that fell on my cheek as I danced with the man that had been a father and brother all rolled into one for me.

Micha held me close. "You look so beautiful today, Boo."

I hugged him tight. "Thank you for giving me away."

"It was an honor to walk you down the aisle to Lester. I'm glad you're happy, Bree."

"I'm glad I was able to fit my family in the wedding."

Micha grinned down at me. "You picked beautiful dresses. Did you see the guys' eyes when the girls started down the aisle?"

I rested my chin against his chest as I looked up into his eyes and grinned back. "They couldn't take their eyes away. I have a feeling we'll see three more weddings in short time. Julie and Jace have been dating nearly as long as Les and I. Although Bella and Hal have gone to a few Civil War functions and had a few dinners, they aren't officially dating yet. Of course, Mary Alice was over the moon a few weeks ago when Binkie finally asked her on a real date. I'm thinking they'll soon be following in our footsteps."

Micha chuckled softly. "I think you're right, Boo."

My eyes widened as I asked, "Did you see Stephanie and Sky? It was like looking at a set of twins separated by thirty years. The same with Alex and Ranger."

"I know what you mean. Lisa seemed excited to be taking care of the guest book. I'm glad you found something for Angel that allowed her to keep Chase with her."

"I have Stephanie to thank for that. Having her and Woody as the chaperones was a perfect touch. And with Ella there to help look after Chase, it turned out really well."

Micha's hand came to rest on the top of my head. "I love being an uncle just as much as I liked being a father. I can't wait to be a grandfather."

I shook my head. "I'm okay with letting it happen whenever, but I'm going to enjoy the time Les and I have to ourselves before babies start coming."

Micha raised an eyebrow. "Babies?"

I nodded. "Dad was a twin, and so were his father and grandfather. The chances of my having twins is greatly increased."

Micha's eyes twinkled. "I'll look forward to any babies you have."

There was a tap on his shoulder, and Micha turned to see Ranger standing there. He bowed and placed my hand in Ranger's before moving off to go find Hector.

Ranger wrapped me in his arms, and we moved in time to the music. His eyes were serious as I looked up into them, and I knew what he was going to tell me was important. "I've never seen Lester as happy as he is tonight. You hold his heart in your hands. Please take care of it."

I gave him an equally solemn look and replied, "It goes both ways. I could never hurt him without hurting myself more. He's my other half, and I'm not complete without him."

He gave a minuscule nod. "It's the same for Stephanie and myself."

I smiled. "I think there will be three more weddings soon."

He gave a half smile and agreed. "As soon as Hal stops fighting the obvious and Binkie figures out the only thing stopping him is himself. Jace will be popping the question any day now. He's already put me on notice."

As we danced past one of the tables, I got a bad feeling that something was lurking there. I took in the people at the table and noticed two boys in their mid-teens. The older one had overly long black hair and sapphire blue eyes. He had a darker complexion and for some reason reminded me of Wulf. He was a devastatingly attractive young man, and there was something about the way he looked at me. The younger boy was probably just in his teens and had white-blond hair and black eyes that left an icy feeling when I looked into them. He too was gorgeous. The man sitting with the two of them had a hooded gaze that was ever watchful. It left me with the feeling that something evil had just crawled over my skin.

As we danced near the table, I could feel Ranger's reservations regarding the three of them. I looked up at him and asked, "Who are they?"

Ranger's voice was deadly soft as he answered, "You remember those two guys that used to always follow you around when you came home? You told Stephanie about them and I sent them packing. Apparently, that's their uncle and his two sons. He's moving to Trenton to act as liaison with the Feds for the police department."

I frowned. "I thought Morelli did that."

Ranger let his head fall forward in a bare semblance of a nod. "He's been promoted to police commissioner. He's agreed to have his eyes open and has hired one of my men to partner with our friend over there. For now, that's the best we can hope for."

Sky stopped by the table and smiled at the two boys. At the looks they gave her, I got cold chills racing down my spine. I felt Ranger stiffen and knew he wanted to go over and remove her from their presence. The blond stepped closer to Sky, but the darker-haired one bowed and held out his hand before asking her to dance. The smile on her face lit the room. The two boys reacted differently. The older one took her hand and led her onto the dance floor, while the other looked after the departing duo with malice.

I clutched Ranger's tux jacket and whispered, "We need to make sure she's kept safe. For now, the castle is dormant, but I have the feeling it'll be called into action soon enough."

Ranger nodded. "Yes."

At that moment, Hobbit stopped at the edge of the dance floor near Sky. Pen was in his arms. The gleam in their eyes led me to believe they knew the danger Sky was in and were moving into position to protect her. Just then, Lester tapped Ranger on the shoulder.

Ranger stepped back and gave me a bow. He winked at me and said, "Don't worry. I'll move heaven and earth to make sure my children are protected." He flicked my nose before adding, "All my children."

Lester took me into his arms, and we moved with the music into the throng of dancers. Just before Les and I left, I threw the bouquet, which Julie caught. When Les through the garter, Jace was the lucky one to catch it. We smiled and waved to our guest before heading out. Lester had arranged for the Rangeman helicopter to fly us to the Newark airport so we could catch our flight to Europe. He was keeping the exact location in Europe a secret, but he needed to make sure I had a passport, so he'd had to give enough information that I would be ready.

Many hours later, as we lay in our bed at the villa in Spain, Les held me close to him after making sweet, passionate love to me. There was such love in his eyes when he looked at me, and I knew he could see the love I held for him as well.

I smiled and said, "This is a wonderful continuation to our life together."

He rolled over so he was half covering me and said, "I agree." He placed his fingers at the side of my face. "Every time I look in your eyes, I feel like I've come home."

I moved my hand up to cup the side of his face and replied, "Being in your arms always makes me feel like I've come home."

He lowered his mouth to mine and let passion rule.

**The End**

_Until the next time…_

**A/N: **chincá means (_child_)

Chapters 17-19 have been revised slightly. In my haste to post, correcting the errors was overlooked. Thank you all for coming along for the ride.


End file.
